President Higgins attacks Church actions in recent scandals

In a wide-ranging interview with the Irish Examiner, President Higgins asked how could it be acceptable for the Church to seek to claim to have a separate legal system above civil law.

“It has totally changed,” he said. “How could it ever be acceptable that you would have a separate legal system that placed itself above the legal system of the State, in which the State is responsible to the people?

“Secondly, in relation to the idea of conscience. If you are in fact going to respect conscience, how can you be absolutist in making statements about women and about relationships between men and women?”

President Higgins also said tensions between his office and Government is inevitable, but he said he has been justified in his actions.

Asked if he realised he has upset Government and the top civil servants during his term, he replied sharply: “Absolutely and very deliberately.”

When asked was he worried about such concern, he said: “Oh no, not at all, it is inevitable that that would happen.

“I’ll give you an example like the case of Savita,” he said. “Here is the choice facing me. I am in England attending an event and this has happened and I know that has affected women and people are very concerned.

“I carefully used my words that an inquiry should be sufficient to meet the reasonable expectations of her husband and should have consequences and proposals to ensure that something like this never happens again.

“I do remember people saying, people arguing archaic kind of thinking, saying this is something he shouldn’t be doing. It is something that I am absolutely convinced was the right thing to do. It is what the President, directly elected and exercising judgement, should do.”

He rejected reports that his executive assistant, Kevin McCarthy, was the cause of staff departures from Áras an Uachtaráin. He describes recent commentary about Mr McCarthy as “unfair”.

Asked about reports of other staff leaving because of being denied access to him, President Higgins said: “I know, I read that, and those reports were totally uninformed.”