In September 2010 Michael D Higgins indicated that he was interested in receiving the Labour Party's nomination for the 2011 presidential election.

He was selected as candidate for the presidency at a special convention in Dublin on 19 June 2011, beating former senator Kathleen O'Meara and former party adviser Fergus Finlay. His candidacy was endorsed by Hollywood actor Martin Sheen, who described Higgins as a "dear friend". Higgins assisted his rival David Norris by urging his party colleagues on Dublin City Council not to obstruct Norris's attempts to get onto the ballot at the last moment "in the interests of democracy", adding that the nomination criteria were "outdated."

Michael D. Higgins promised he would be a neutral president if elected and not be a "handmaiden" to the government. The Labour Party spending on the campaign is "within a budget of €320,000".

On October 29, 2011, two days after the presidential election was held, Higgins was declared President-elect of Ireland, garnering a total of 1,007,104 votes.

Michael Daniel Higgins, commonly known as Michael D. Higgins ( born 18 April 1941) is a politician, poet, author and broadcaster. He will become the ninth President of Ireland, after winning the 2011 Irish presidential election held on 27 October 2011. He is the President of the Labour Party of Ireland. He was formerly a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway West constituency, and was the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht from 1993 to 1997.

Higgins has campaigned for human rights and written of conflict in many parts of the world, including such areas as Nicaragua, Chile, Cambodia, El Salvador, Iraq and Somalia. In recognition of his work for peace with justice in many parts of the world, he became the first recipient of the Seán MacBride Peace Prize of the International Peace Bureau in Helsinki in 1992. He was a noted and articulate critic of U.S foreign policy under the Ronald Reagan administration.

As well as having a successful political career Higgins has also had a career as a poet, author and broadcaster. He has contributed widely to political and philosophical journals on many subjects including ideology, the sociology of literature, clientism in politics, regionalism and the politics of the media.

He wrote and presented a television film on Montserrat, entitled "The Other Emerald Isle" for Channel 4 and his documentary on the life of Noel Browne, for RTÉ, has also been screened. Higgins has had poems published in a number of periodicals, as well as publishing three collections of his poetry, including, The Betrayal (1990), his second book of poems The Season of Fire and his latest book An Arid Season.

Higgins' eclectic mix of interests also extend to sport, he is a regular at the Galway Races each summer and is the president and director of Galway United Football Club, who play in the League of Ireland.

He is the subject of the song "Michael D. Rocking in the Dáil" by popular Tuam band The Saw Doctors. The song first appeared as a B-side on the 1994 single "Small Bit of Love" and is also on the 2002 compilation Play It Again, Sham!.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Higgins