Back
العربية
Michael D. Higgins
Michael D. Higgins · Bundesministerium für europäische und internationale Angelegenheiten, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Person

Michael D. Higgins

b. 1941

President of Ireland (2011–2018; 2018–2025)

Born
18 Apr 1941 · Limerick
Part ofRepublic of Ireland800 CE – today

Life timeline

Their life from birth to death. On the timeline, world events of the time are shown faintly.

Showing 98 years
  1. 18 Apr 1941BornBorn in Limerick
  2. 1973 – 1977RoleSenator of Ireland
  3. 1981 – 1982RoleTeachta Dála
  4. 1982RoleTeachta Dála
  5. 1983 – 1987RoleSenator of Ireland
  6. 1987 – 1989RoleTeachta Dála
  7. 1989 – 1992RoleTeachta Dála
  8. 1992 – 1997RoleTeachta Dála
  9. 1992AwardSeán MacBride Peace Prize
  10. 1997 – 2002RoleTeachta Dála
  11. 2001 – 2003RoleRepresentative of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
  12. 2002 – 2007RoleTeachta Dála
  13. 2007 – 2011RoleTeachta Dála
  14. 2011 – 2025RolePresident of Ireland
  15. 2014AwardDoctor of Humane Letters
  16. 2017AwardGrand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Sun of Peru
  17. 2020AwardHonorary doctor of the University of Rennes 2

Loading from Wikipedia and Wikidata…

Meanwhile in the world

Major world events during their lifetime (1941 – today).

  1. 1941Attack on Pearl Harbor
  2. 1941 – 1945Eastern Front
  3. 1941Operation Barbarossa
  4. 1942 – 1943Battle of Stalingrad
  5. 1945Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
  6. 1945 – 1946Nuremberg trials
  7. 19501950 FIFA World Cup
  8. 1950 – 1953Korean War
  9. 1953 – 1959Cuban Revolution
  10. 19541954 FIFA World Cup
  11. 1955 – 1975Vietnam War
  12. 1956Hungarian Revolution of 1956
  13. 1956Suez Crisis
  14. 19581958 FIFA World Cup
  15. 1959Antarctic Treaty System
  16. 19621962 FIFA World Cup
  17. 1962Cuban Missile Crisis
  18. 19661966 FIFA World Cup
  19. 1966 – 1976Cultural Revolution
  20. 1968Prague Spring
  21. 1969Apollo 11 Moon landing
  22. 19721972 Summer Olympics
  23. 19741974 FIFA World Cup
  24. 19781978 FIFA World Cup
  25. 1978 – 1979Iranian Revolution
  26. 1979 – 1989Soviet–Afghan War
  27. 1980 – 1988Iran–Iraq War
  28. 19841984 Summer Olympics
  29. 1985Schengen Agreement
  30. 19891989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
  31. 1989Fall of the Berlin Wall
  32. 19901990 FIFA World Cup
  33. 1991Dissolution of the Soviet Union
  34. 19941994 FIFA World Cup
  35. 1994 – 1996First Chechen War
  36. 19981998 FIFA World Cup
  37. 2001 – 2021War in Afghanistan
  38. 2003 – 2011Iraq War
  39. 20042004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
  40. 20062006 FIFA World Cup

Biography

Michael Daniel Higgins (Irish: Mícheál Dónal Ó hUigínn; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet and broadcaster who served as the president of Ireland from November 2011 to November 2025. Entering national politics through the Labour Party, he served as a senator from 1973 to 1977 and a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1981 to 1982, returning to the Seanad from 1983 to 1987 and the Dáil from 1987 to 2011. He served as minister for arts, culture and the Gaeltacht from 1993 to 1997 and as mayor of Galway from 1981 to 1982 and 1990 to 1991.

Higgins was elected president of Ireland in 2011 after being nominated by the Labour Party. He ran for a second term in 2018 and was re-elected in a landslide victory, with his 822,566 first-preference votes being the largest personal mandate in the history of the Republic of Ireland until Catherine Connolly's election as president in 2025. His second presidential inauguration took place on 11 November 2018.

Higgins used his presidency to address issues concerning justice, social equality, social inclusion, anti-sectarianism, anti-racism, and reconciliation. He made the first state visit by an Irish president to the United Kingdom in April 2014.

Text from the Wikipedia article Michael D. Higgins, CC BY-SA 4.0

About this information

Dates and life events come from this person’s Wikidata entry.

We only show events that the sources give a date for. Anything without a date is left out rather than guessed.