President: I wasn’t elected simply to recite speeches
Michael D Higgins has strongly defended his recent remarks on the Defence Forces and the beef crisis, claiming people do not vote for a president who just reads speeches he is handed.
Speaking in New York, President Michael D Higgins said he “knew very clearly” what he was saying when he rowed into the ongoing issue of pay and conditions of those serving in the Defence Forces.
He added that separate comments on the beef protests were “very, very much within the Constitution”.
His remarks come as it emerged that the Government has saved €24m on Defence Forces’ wages so far this year due to an unprecedented number of soldiers, sailors, and aircrew leaving for better-paid jobs in the private sector.
President Higgins said that, as Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces, “it wasn’t too much to expect that those who serve in the forces might anticipate decent living conditions and I very much feel that. I should be concerned, and I was concerned, and I said it very very, clearly.”
The President went on to suggest most of the public do not want a president who simply recites speeches.
He said “one or two people do come straight out” and say “they’d like a President that was just handed the speeches to read out or that they’d like a President who didn’t have an opinion on anything like this”, but “the fact of the matter is that a very, very large number of people in Ireland decided that they wanted this kind of President, who wouldn’t interfere with what the agencies of Government are doing, but who would be very conscious and aware of what I call the vulnerability vulnerably, prospects, and hopes of the Irish people”.
President Higgins added:
The principle that I use in making decisions on these matters is that I don’t speak on legislation which is before the Houses, although the office of the President is, in fact, part of the Oireachtas.
While it had been suggested by some that of the President’s comments strayed beyond his constitutional remit, he claimed that the response to his remarks from the Government was “positive”, adding that the Taoiseach had agreed that the current conditions in the Defence Forces should not prevail.
