The President of Ireland tried to deliver a speech, but his adorable pupper stole the show

President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins addressed the European nation live on national television on May 2. He paid tribute to the Irish actor Tom Hickey who passed away a day earlier. The president was accompanied by his Bernese mountain dog Misneach, one of his two pets (the other, also a Bernese mountain dog, is named Bród). On this particular occasion, Misneach desperately attempted to steal President Higgins's attention away from the cameras by playfully biting him and rubbing his forehead against the president's hand. While Higgins himself seemed steadfast in his duty of bidding farewell to a fine actor, Misneach has stolen many hearts across the internet thanks to a now-viral video of the incident, Yahoo! News reports.

The tribute took place at Áras an Uachtaráin, the presidential residence, in Dublin earlier this week. The president and the very good boy Misneach were stood in the garden, with a giant acorn in the background. As President Higgins said a few words and took questions from reporters, the dog tugged at his hands with his mouth, rubbed up against his legs, and placed a paw against his hip. These were only a few of Misneach's several tactics to gain his dad's highly sought-after attention.

All the while, the president seemed completely unbothered by his pet's stunts, speaking into the mic as if an adorably large puppy were not repeatedly asking for his attention with his paw. Eventually, it appears that Misneach simply gave up and sat down next to Higgins, although there were a few more attempts to vie him away from the mic. Videos of the interview have since been posted across social media platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Sadly, few have paid attention to what we assume were incredibly important words stated by the Irish president. Instead, viewers have focused on Misneach.

One Twitter user commented, "That’s only a puppy. All Bernese mountain dogs seem to be that affectionate when they are puppies. Sweet puppy. Still better behaved than mine. Mine would be introducing himself to every reporter asking to throw his ball." Another asked, "I like how unruffled he is by the dog’s antics. Also, why is there a giant flippin' acorn statue in the background?" "They are such cuddle machines, aren't they?" Another tweeted. Many users also commented that these are simply the effects of working from home for so many months—our pups have gotten far too used to monopolizing our attention for so long (the notice on cats and their opinions is eagerly awaited—do they just want full control of their apartment-kingdoms once again?).

For those who cannot get enough of Higgins's puppies, this is not the first time they have caused a ruckus on the internet. In March last year, just as dozens of us got used to living at home in the middle of a pandemic, his other pupper Bród stole the show at an International Women's Day event in Dublin, on March 6. In a video, the Bernese mountain dog could be seen walking through the gathered crowd before joining his owner as he and his wife, Sabina Higgins, were seated for photographs. Evidently, Misneach and Bród are posed to become the next viral phenomenon. It is about time President Higgins launched a TikTok account for them.