Sabina Higgins Letter to Irish Times calling for ceasefire on Ukraine

The issue is that she used the presidential website to amplify her opinion. She isn't president and the spouses of public figures shouldn't be using their spouse's position to promote their own opinion.

This needs to be clarified in a future update of the rules pertaining to presidential spouses so we can avoid future missteps.

That’s a scathing piece, where did you come up with the ‘Dame Edna’?

There is enough to be critical of without taking swipes at her appearance.

but she should not have to apologise for giving her opinion , that is ludicrous. She is not president and should be able to give any opinion she wishes even when if that opinion is wrong.

Her opinion wasn't wrong, it was grotesque.

She pontificated through fúcking poem that Ukrainian's should "quit thy foolish ways".

Ukrainian men and women laying down their lives and limbs to stop a murdering regime from executing and mass raping their friends, family and fellow citizens.

Then she had the fúcking audacity to claim that she couldn't fathom how anyone could have an issue with her publication.

She is a national embarrassment, and if the President had an ounce of respect for the office or for the people of Ukraine he would apologise on her behalf, because it's plain as day that her unbridled arrogance won't permit her.

The sooner these pair of life long free loaders are gone, the better.

The whole thing is very disappointing for people like myself who had admired the Higgins presidency.

The letter is simply appalling, disgusting. It gives no extra responsibility for the conflict to Putin over Zelensky, to Russia over Ukraine.

The response to the criticism is nearly as bad, saying she is dismayed that there was such a reaction to a call for peace; as if the people criticising it love war ffs, as if the Ukrainian men at the front line would rather be fighting than at home.

Like many others I was a huge admirer of Michael D Higgins, always considered him a fantastic representative. But he seems to be basically okay with this childish dismissal of the Ukrainian struggle. I think many more like me who voted for him twice will be very disappointed.

I think this story is beginning to slowly deflate in an unresolved way. A good political crisis requires a good one-two punch but there hasn't been a follow up of note here from the media.

Unless something comes out in the next 48 hrs the story is over, even though the presidential couple have been badly damaged by it.

I suppose they now have a choice of doubling down on statements that conflict with government or revert to ribbon cutters in the background. Given the coverage, one feels patience is now thin with them in Government circles at this point.

It is also a reasonably coherent assessment of many of the contributions to this thread.

"Social media was made for this, particularly the hot takes – aided by the bot swarms (with Irish names and risibly pro-Russian tweeting histories) – supporting Ms Higgins’s freedom-of-speech and her call for a ceasefire"

However, the most coherent piece was this:

"In content, it was just another well-intentioned, anti-war view placing a baffling faith in diplomacy, unsupported by evidence, context or constructive suggestion. As a letter to the editor it wasn’t very interesting or enlightening.£

Ouch.

A bit OT for the thread - but Paddy Power currently has Gerry Adams at 100-1 for next president, but John Finucane at 14-1 and Lynn Ruane at 20-1. Seems very odd

Neither must it be forgotten that neo-Gaelic Bard and Chieftain Higgins deceived the people when he averred that he would be a one term President. A pompous pretentious poser and nasty piece of work through and through.

Plus his abject failure to attend the centenary church service in Belfast last year shows his shiftiness and hypocrisy. He claimed he couldn't go because the event had been 'politicised' .

This from someone who has singlehandedly politicised the Presidency for his own ideological ends.

is it really? that's not full withdrawal???

There are far worse people that would probably have received honours if we did have a system, e.g. Haughey, Liam Lawlor, Ray Burke, Michael Lowry, Conor Cruise O'Brien, etc. Higgins and his wife are virtue signallers. They don't cause active harm to society in the way each and every one of those others did. They are at worst guilty of bad politics.

You're right about the media turning on them in relatively recent years. I wonder why that is. Higgins politics haven't changed in the slightest. He is consistent (consistently wrong on some issues, I and others would argue).

Had no problem with other statements from the Aras, but genuinely disgusted at that letter being published on the Presidential website.

If people have read about it but not read the actual letter they should try to do so.

Where arevthe bombs manufactured? Now please stop being obtuse