A gentle soul.

President Michael D Higgins is generally lauded for being a sound man. He queues for ATMs. He's posed for a picture on a BMX. He bought everybody in Dun Laoghaire ice creams that one time. As it turns out, Michael D has actually gotten even sounder this week as he respectfully declined a woman's wedding invitation that she had sent him "for the craic." Katie Makk wrote on Twitter that she had "sent an invite to my wedding to @PresidentIRL – today I received this in the post. Good auld Michael D!” The tweet included a picture of the letter Katie received from Aras an Uachtarain in response to her request... and what it says is just lovely. https://twitter.com/katie_makk/status/890891885610446848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.ie%2Fnews%2F1326278%2Fpresident-michael-d-higgins-responds-to-bride-to-be-who-invited-him-to-her-wedding-celebrations%2F The letter reads:

“Dear Katie and Alan, President Higgins has asked me to thank you most sincerely for your kind invitation to attend at the celebration of your wedding on (redacted date). Your thoughtfulness in extending the invitation is very much appreciated but the President regrets that, due to the extent of his commitments, it is not possible for him to accept. The President would like to wish you both every happiness for the future.”

Despite not being able to attend the wedding, Michael's D's response is nothing short of exquisite. Katie's tweet has already received almost 300 likes, with users responding to applaud the President's thoughtfulness. One person commented that the letter was "class." Another suggested that maybe Michael D wasn't coming to the wedding because he "doesn't like chicken and chips." Attending or not, the President's reply has made us all sure of one thing - Michael D Higgins is a very sound man.