[caption id="attachment_70439" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="President Higgins and his wife Sabina at the Dublin St. Patrick's Day Parade."]
Irish president Michael D. Higgins has come under fire after attending a theatre production in prison featuring inmates convicted of crimes including murder.
President Higgins was in the audience for the show in Dublin's Wheatfield Prison. Inmates put on a version of the Oscar Wilde short story "The Happy prince" as part of an educational program. The president had originally agreed to attend during an official visit to the prison last December, just weeks after his election.
However, the details of his presence for a "private performance" have angered victims of those involved in the show, which was produced by a man convicted of strangling his wife.
Dublin man Eamon Lillis was jailed for the 2006 murder of wife Siobhan Kearny, and her mother, Deirdre McLaughlin has said she was "sickened" to learn of the president's attendance at the performance.
However, since details of the visit emerged, President Higgins has said his presence at the prison show should not be misinterpreted. Following the production he gave his seal of approval for educational programs in prisons, and stated his support for rehabilitation.
He said: "I am, of course conscious and very sensitive to the fact that many people in our prisons have committed violent crimes and caused grave hurt and distress for so many people.
"I would not wish my support of rehabilitation to be in any way seen to be minimizing the gravity of the crimes that have been committed."
"I do believe that all of society benefits from effective programs of rehabilitation, which my visit to Wheatfield was supporting, and I congratulate the prison authorities for their commitment to this constructive work."
Meanwhile, Ms. McLaughlin said she has written to the president over the issue.
"This is giving him (Lillis) a big ego, it is turning him into a mini-celebrity, and I don't think the president should endorse this," she said.
