In an exclusive interview with the Galway Advertiser, Sabina Higgins has confirmed that she and husband Michael D Higgins plan to return to Galway City when his term ends next year.
The family are likely to return to their home of 25 years on Circular Road in Rahoon, but other options have not been ruled out. They have previously lived in Renmore and Fairlands Park.
In the interview, contained in this week’s Advertiser, it is clear that coming to the final stretch of the president’s second and final seven-year term, due to finish in 2025, Ireland’s first lady is immensely proud of her husband’s achievements, but says the couple are demoralised by world events.
“We’re so disappointed about all the great things we thought would be happening by now in the world: greater equality, and other things, but the world is in such a terrible state,” she said.
Sabina Higgins, originally from Cloonrane, near Milltown, Co Galway, is a life-long political activist and anti-war campaigner. Speaking in her private quarters in Áras an Uchtaráin to the Galway Advertiser, Mrs Higgins recalled her childhood in rural Galway, reminisced on political campaigns across the county, and discussed current events in the Middle East.
The 82-year-old has made a strong recovery from surgery following a breast cancer diagnosis last year, and will be keynote speaker at tonight’s ‘Art for Gaza’ event in Dublin’s Copper House Gallery, featuring pieces for sale by Jim Fitzpatrick, the late Shane MacGowan, sculptor John Behan, and REM’s Michael Stipe. All proceeds to Médecins Sans Frontières in Gaza.
