Michael D Higgins set to release album of poetry recorded in the Áras
The words of President Higgins will be accompanied by songs from musician and filmmaker Myles O'Reilly.
O'Reilly was among the performers on stage when the President and his wife Sabina welcomed guests to the Áras last month for an annual garden party.
Recordings for the album, which includes readings of 10 of the President's poems, were completed in the confines of the Áras in late 2023.
Listeners have been told to expect to be 'fully transposed into the incredibly interesting life and times of the poet before he became Ireland's President, from childhood to adulthood'.
In 2018, when President Higgins was campaigning for re-election, the hashtag #keepthepoet went viral on social media, a nod to his talent with a pen and paper. Ireland kept the poet, and the poet kept up the poetry.
This is far from the President's first foray into poetry. His first collection of poems, The Betrayal, was released in 1990, followed by The Season of Fire (1993), An Arid Season (2004) and New and Selected Poems (2011).
Against All Certainty is not his first release during his time in office, either. In 2015, his first written work since he was elected President was released when the text of The Prophets are Weeping was shared publicly.
The President has also done readings of his work in the past. As part of a series released by UCD, he read a number of his works in videos released on YouTube in 2021.
In a previous collaboration with Claddagh Records, he joined a star-studded cast that also included the likes of Bono, Liam Neeson, Aidan Gillen and Hozier.
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In 2022, a rerecording of Patrick Kavanagh's Almost Everything was released by the label. Bono read On Raglan Road, Neeson read Memory of My Father, and President Higgins read Stony Grey Soil.
Through that reading of Kavanagh's poetry, the President has already racked up nearly 15,000 streams on Spotify, though he has some catching up to do in the monthly listeners category, where he stands at just 140.
Those streaming numbers could get a boost in the coming days, with the title track from Against All Certainty available now on Spotify, Apple Music or wherever you get your presidential spoken word.
Garech Browne, who co-founded Claddagh Records in 1960, was a longtime friend of President Higgins, who spoke at Mr Browne's funeral in 2018.
Against All Certainty is available to preorder now ahead of its release on Friday, September 5, when it will be made available in full on streaming platforms.
For the physical media enthusiasts among us, it will also be released on CD and vinyl. Through a deal struck by Claddagh Records with Universal Music, the words of the Irish President will be introduced to a global audience.
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