Hurricane Higgins had the whole of Belfast glued to their TV sets when he beat Cliff Thorburn in the World Championship final in 1982. Now he’s planning a new career as an anti-politician politician. Thanks to Donnie for the heads up!
Higgins’s mission is to call a referendum on May 11 to remove the letters “lfa” from Belfast and rename it “Best” city, partly in honour of his old mate George Best, and partly because “it’s a great city, really, very compact and with fantastic facilities”. As leader of the newly formed Make Politicians History party, he will also “make a point about the pointlessness of politicians” by running in the next Stormont elections.
The Hurricane’s new vocation struck him when he met another meteorological phenomenon: “Rainbow” George Weiss, the founder of the eccentric Vote for Yourself Dream Ticket party, which won 712 votes in Belfast last May. Weiss continues to offer Higgins advice, tips such as: “Alex’s slogan could be: “Are you drinking what we’re drinking?”
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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