MICHAEL D HIGGINS' dog, Bród, got a taste of the limelight when the press fell head over heels in love with him during last week's Royal visit to Ireland.
The Bernese Mountain Dog Bród, whose name means 'Pride' in Irish, distracted the press during Prince William and Kate Middleton's visit with the Irish President, when journalists could be heard whistling for him to come closer and a chorus of 'aaww's breaking out from the gathered media associates (You can check that out here).
Bród and his sister Síoda are staples of life in the Áras an Uachtaráin, and so it was no surprise that he was present at an event President Higgins was holding for International Women's Day on Sunday, 8 March.
The giant pup walked confidently through the crowd which had gathered for the event, expertly weaving through people before making his way to the front of the room-- where the President and his wife, Sabina, were meant to be posing for a photograph-- and demanded pats and belly rubs.
(Which he then got, of course.)
The best content you will see this weekend:
President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins' dog enters room of 100 people to look for his owner, walks through everyone to find him, is very happy to do so and demands a belly rub during an official eventpic.twitter.com/mKRxSc6w7P— Matt Sterling (@MSterling27) March 8, 2020
Thanks to Irish-Syrian journalist Ibrah Razan, who filmed the moment, everyone in Ireland has been watching and re-watching Bród greet his owner, with the video having been watched over 3 million times at the time of writing.
When a second video of the adorable moment was reposted by a 'Humour and Animals' Twitter account, Bród's fame spread even further-- and even caught the attention of Star Wars legend Mark Hamill.
Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the iconic film series, retweeted the video with the caption "I like a president who understands the need for belly rubs".
I like a president who understands the need for belly rubs. https://t.co/MzmrpzFbbN
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) March 8, 2020
Bród and Síoda are well-known across Ireland but now have a good number of overseas fans thanks to the Royal visit and the Jedi's recommendation, and if you want to keep in touch, you're in luck-- they have their own (unofficial) Twitter page.
