THE demands of the present seemed to weigh heavy on Michael D. Higgins yesterday when he went AWOL from the Dail to visit the National Archives.
He was there to hear about a five year plan for the archives, called A Future For Our Past.
It was a perfect opportunity for him to talk about historical revisionism, trade quotes from Shakespeare with Mr Justice Hugh O'Flaherty and repeat his argument for more funds for cultural institutions. In fact, the report can be summed up in two words money, please.
The Minister coined a new phrase, "parity of provision", to describe the case for increases in funding for institutions such as the archives and the National Library.
However, as he went on a whistles top tour of the warehouse that houses roughly 50 million irreplaceable documents, the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht had other concerns on his mind. He was worried he would be caught mitching from the Dail without a "pair".
His concern was understandable in the week the Government suffered an embarrassing defeat because deputies didn't turn up for a vote.
Mr Higgins quickly departed from the careful ministerial script to give a ringing endorsement of the plan and its demand for proper funding.
"I've no intention of saying something that is blandly evasive or anything else," he declared. "I don't find the funding for this institution, in terms of staffing, of space, or indeed in relation to some other matters, to be anything like satisfactory."
He praised Mr Justice O'Flarherty, in his capacity as chairman of the National Archives Advisory Council, for the determination with which he pressed his case. The judge had referred to his son, Ruairi, who was taught by the Minister in an earlier incarnation.
It was "pleasant" to be remembered well by former students, he said, "because they last longer than your colleagues and they are sometimes predisposed to a greater generosity".
Then it was a quick dash back to the Dail, hoping no one had noticed his absence.