An tUasal Mícheál D. Ó hUigín,
Michael D. Higgins T.D.
Michael D. Higgins was born in Limerick in 1941. He was educated at St. Flannan’s College, Ennis, County Clare and is a graduate of UCG from which he holds a BA and a B.Comm degree as well as Indiana University and Manchester University from which he holds an MA. As well as being a public representative he has worked as a University Lecturer in UCG in Political Science and Sociology.
Higgins first entered local politics in 1974 when he was elected to Galway County Council as a Labour Party councillor. He remained a member of this council until 1985 when he was elected to Galway City Council. He first entered national politics when he was elected to Dáil Éireann for the Galway West constituency in the 1981 General Election. Higgins had contested the three previous general elections and two European Elections in 1979 and 1984 unsuccessfully. He lost his seat at the November 1982 General Election but regained it in 1987 and has held it at each subsequent election. He served as a Senator on the National University of Ireland panel from 1983-87.
He resigned from Galway City Council in 1993 when he was appointed Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht. He remained a Government Minister until Labour went into opposition in 1997. One of his significant achievements in this Ministry was to launch the new Irish channel TG4. Higgins was party spokesperson on Foreign Affairs from 1997-2002 and lately on International Affairs. He led the Labour Party opposition to the Iraq war and sought a nomination from the party to challenge outgoing President Mary McAleese in 2004 but the party was reluctant to challenge the popular President. He remains a committed supporter of the Irish language. On May 12, 2006 he was selected as the sole Labour Party candidate in the Galway West constituency.