Sir, – Michael D Higgins has been, and continues to be, an exemplary President, representing us both at home and abroad.
I have voted for Mr Higgins in Dáil elections for over 40 years as he was one of the few politicians who has been always true to his principles and who tried his best to keep his election promises, often at personal cost.
In 2011 Mr Higgins promised that he would be a one-term president, and I am alarmed at intimations that he may run again.
He would be a shoo-in for a second term as there would be no realistic opposition. But the voters would be denied a democratic choice.
A second-term Higgins presidency would not have the freshness of the first term and would inevitably drift into indifference, fatigue and complacency.
I urge Mr Higgins to retire when his term ends. He would then once again be free as a private citizen to write his memoirs and to speak his mind. – Yours, etc,
JARLATH PIUS MANNION,
Knocknacarra,
Galway.