President Michael D Higgins suffered 'mild stroke' in February

Thomson Reuters

President Michael D Higgins suffered a "mild stroke" in February that necessitated his ission to hospital for a week, the president said in an interview on Wednesday.

President Higgins' office said at the time that he experienced a mild transient weakness from which he was expected to make a full recovery. The widely popular Higgins, who turned 83 last week, returned to official duties immediately after his release.

"I'm fine now. What I had was a form of mild stroke. It didn't affect my cognitive abilities. It affected simply my motor side, which was on the left-hand side," President Higgins told The Irish Times in his first interview since the hospitalisation.

"My left hand is fully back. But (the stroke) somehow exacerbated stuff that I had in my lower back. I'm getting that fixed in the next week."

President Higgins is scheduled to complete his second and final seven-year term in the largely ceremonial role next year.