President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins has been upstaged during an interview with broadcaster RTÉ - by his beloved seven-month-old Bernese mountain dog.
The clip, which has gone viral, shows the playful pup nibbling and pawing the President as he spoke, paying tribute to the late actor Tom Hickey.
Remaining professional, Higgins offered his hand to Misneach - which translates as courage - and continued as if nothing was happening.
The cute clip has been watched more than 1.5 million times and has nearly 63,000 likes on TikTok, with plenty of positive comments:
You do wonder how the world would be if all world leaders had a loving supportive dog by their sides at all events.
Not sure if I'm outraged that he didn't give the puppy cuddles, or happy he didn't tell him off.
So proud to have Michael D as our president, for many reasons, but not least because of how much his dogs love him.
The man didn't even flinch! Aw, all I felt watching this was love and made me smile.
