By Jeremy Sollars
Warwick’s Abbey of the Roses was the stunning backdrop for a visit last Sunday by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins.
Accompanied by his wife Sabina, President Higgins visited Warwick as part of the final leg of a State Visit to Australia and New Zealand – and caught up with Higgins family descendants not only from the Warwick area but also from across southern Queensland and northern New South Wales at an invited reception at the Abbey.
President Higgins has numerous family links to the Warwick area, including to the wider Ryan and Cleary families, and he spoke movingly of the waves of Irish immigration to Warwick and to Australia, and the profound influence of Irish people on the Australian character.
He has been in office since 11 November 2011, and is the Republic of Ireland’s ninth president.
By background President Higgins is a politician, poet, sociologist, author and broadcaster, and is a former Irish Government minister and president of the Irish Labour Party.
He received more than one million votes at his election in 2011, the highest majority of any Irish presidential candidate in history, and further cemented his popularity when he requested after his election that the Irish Government reduce his salary by 23.5 per cent.
For more photos from the President’s reception visit www.freetimes.com.au
