Michael D. Higgins - small but perfectly formed!

This post is dedicated to that great Irishman (Are you taking the piss already? We'll have no dwarfophobia here! - Ed.) Michael D. Higgins who popped up this lunchtime when he was presented to the teams before the Republic of Ireland v England football match. It was touching to see that each player was accompanied onto the pitch by a small child so that Michael would not feel intimidated when he arrived for the presentation.

T'ank God for that! I was getting a right crick in me neck!

Michael D. is Ireland's Ceremonial Leprechaun (or President in Gaelic) and lives in a palatially appointed hutch under the West Stand of Dublin's Aviva Stadium. He is wheeled out for all the great sporting occasions to the traditional Irish greeting of "Bejaysus, now who's that little bastard to be sure?"

Michael is unstinting in his support for Irish sporting giants;-

The Big Man with the Dwarf Sports Team of Ireland
prior to their departure for the 2013 Dwarf Games in Michigan

MDH with Paul O'Connell, Irish rugby captain
"Jaysus Paul, will ye look on the size of you!"

When not meeting and greeting sporting nobility MickeyD likes to dabble in the arts. He is obviously very much in demand during the panto season and is a regular guest as Reverend Timms in the much loved children's series Postman Pat.

Reverend Timms                                  Michael  D    

Michael is seen here in his official regalia
as State Leprechaun in Chief

Michael is seen here taking his first bicycle ride without stabilisers.








Micky Bhoy is also a published poet. His works include "The death of the Red Cow" and "Arse".
(Editor's note: Sorry about that! The last one should have been 'The Ass' - an ode to a donkey.)

Michael's official business card

Despite his limited height, Mikey has never found it hard to take his place at the political top table (as long as someone remembers to bring the baby chair).

Michael's fame is celebrated in the hit song "Michael D. Rocking in the Dáil" by popular Tuam band the Saw Doctors. (The Dáil is the Irish Parliament - I only put this in because I'm please to have discovered how to type accented characters. If you want to know what Tuam means, look it up for yourself .)

I urge readers to watch this clip in its entirety. A catchy little number with some great shots of our hero.

It is a little known fact that the Higgs Boson discovered at CERN recently was originally called the Higgins particle in honour of our hero, being miniscule in size but massive in its stature. Then some obscure old Scottish physicist by the name of Higgs turned up to claim that he invented the thing and the rest, as they say, is history.

Having extracted the urine from the poor wee man, it's only fair to end on a serious note and I am proud to add the following text, the words to Michael's latest poem The Prophets are Weeping. This is the only poem he has published since becoming President and its references to extremism and the displacement of people in the Middle East certainly makes you think.

The Prophets are Weeping

To those on the road it is reported that
The Prophets are weeping,
At the abuse
Of their words,
Scattered to sow an evil seed.

Rumour has it that,
The Prophets are weeping,
At their texts distorted,
The death and destruction,
Imposed in their name.

The sun burns down,
On the children who are crying,
On the long journeys repeated,
Their questions not answered.

Mothers and Fathers hide their faces,
Unable to explain,
Why they must endlessly,
No end in sight,
Move for shelter,
for food, for safety, for hope.

The Prophets are weeping,
For the words that have been stolen,
From texts that once offered,
To reveal in ancient times,
A shared space,
Of love and care,
Above all for the stranger.

Great words Michael. Thank you for that.