President Michael D Higgins said that he feels it is appropriate for him to contribute to the debate over the EU debt crisis.
He said that he is conscious of his role under the constitution and the oath he has taken in the Presidential office, and he feels his comments fall within that.
In an interview with the Financial Times, the President said there needs to be a radical rethink on how EU leaders handle the economic crisis, and the eurozone faces a moral crisis.
Speaking in Dublin this morning, Michael D Higgins said people do not have to agree with him, but he feels it is important to contribute to the debate.
"There is no difficulty at all, as far as I am concerned, about what I am doing in terms of it being both positive and being clearly within what I think is both proper, right and constitutional," he said.