Background
He was born in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo in 1945.
He was born in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo in 1945.
He was educated at Saint Jarlath"s College, Tuam and at University College Galway.
He was twice named Best Individual Speaker at the Junior Chamber Ireland debating championships (1978, 1979) and was the captain of the International Tripartite Debating Team. Higgins worked as a secondary school teacher before becoming involved in local politics. He first ran for Dáil Éireann at the 1981 general election, but was unsuccessful.
However, he was nominated by the Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald to the 15th Seanad Éireann.
He was re-elected to the Dáil in 1989, 1992 and 1997. The following year he became Minister of State at the Departments of the Taoiseach and Defence, as well as Chief Whip of the government.
He remained in that position until a Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats coalition took office after the 1997 general election. Foreign over two years he brought to the Dáil the case of the extended McBrearty family who were wrongly accused of murder.
He raised allegations of Garda corruption in County Donegal.
He was also responsible for bringing before the Dáil a £30 million overspend by the state transport company Iarnród Éireann on a safety signalling system which led to the establishment of an all-party parliamentary inquiry. European Parliament
He was re-elected at the 2009 European Parliament election. He is one of five MEPs to hold the position of Quaestor.
He was elected by other parliamentarians in the European Parliament to this position.
He lost his seat at the 2014 European Parliament election.
He was successful at the 1987 general election, winning a seat in the 25th Dáil as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála (Territorial Decoration) for Mayo East. In 1994 the Rainbow Coalition of Fine Gael, Labour Party and Democratic Left came to power and Higgins was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Finance. Like many of his Fine Gael colleagues at the 2002 general election, Higgins lost his seat in the Mayo constituency.
In the 2004 European Parliament election Higgins was elected to the European Parliament as a Fine Gael / European People"s Party Member of the European Parliament for the North-West constituency.
He served as a member of Seanad Éireann, Dáil Éireann, and was an EPP Member of the European Parliament for the North-West constituency from 2004 to 2014. He served as a member of Mayo County Council from 1979–1995, acting as Vice-Chairman of the Council from 1980–1981. He lost his Seanad seat in 1982 but was elected to the 17th Seanad by the Labour Panel in 1983, remaining in the upper house until 1987 as a member of the 17th Seanad.
However, he was elected to Seanad Éireann by the Labour Panel, becoming a member of the 22nd Seanad.
At the European Parliament, he serves as a member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism. He is a substitute member of the Petitions Committee.
He is also a substituent member of the Fisheries Committee. Higgins" other duties include membership of the European Union-Chile Joint Parliamentary Committee, the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly and he is a substitute member of the Delegation for Relations with Japan.