Michael D. Higgins

As well as forging a successful political career, Michael D. Higgins is an author, poet and broadcaster. He presented a television film on Montserrat, The Other Emerald Isle. He also presented a documentary on the life of Dr Noel Browne for RTÉ, Dr Browne Also Spoke. He has had three volumes of poetry published, most recently An Arid Season, and has been included in a number of anthologies. He is the author of Causes for Concern: Irish Politics, Culture and Society, also published by Liberties Press, and has contributed chapters to over twenty publications, and was a columnist for Hot Press from 1982 until 1993. 

Higgins has campaigned for human rights and written about conflict in many parts of the world. He became the first recipient of the Seán MacBride Peace Prize of the International Peace Bureau in Helsinki in 1992, and has twice been mayor of Galway. Michael D. is the candidate for the presidency of Ireland and is nominated by the Labour Party. He was born in Limerick, moved to County Clare when he was five and currently resides in Galway.