Orders pour in for Michael Tea Higgins tea cosies crocheted by Dubliner Susan Banks.
As President Michael D Higgins prepares for a second term in Áras an Uachtaráin, Tallaght resident Susan Banks is getting ready for another seven years of crocheting Michael Tea Higgins tea cosies.
Susan Banks sells her wares on Facebook under the name 'Not Just Hats' and orders are pouring for the handmade cosies in the likeness of the President.
She started crocheting Michael Tea cosies from a pattern she created from images of Michael D Higgins she found on Google. The most important part of Michael Tea Higgins is his hair. Susan Banks uses a toothbrush to get his eyebrows just right.
He is such a lovely man really, and it’s what he portrays for the country.
Michael Tea Higgins came to prominence when Susan Banks’ nephew posted a photograph of the Michael Tea Higgins cosies on the social news website and forum Reddit. Within no time at all she had 9,500 hits.
I’d never even heard of Reddit in me life.
Susan Bank’s daughter Rachel recalls the Facebook page crashing as it received so many messages.
It takes Susan Banks about three and a half hours to complete a tea cosy. Other designs include Harry Potter, Princess Leia and Limerick TD Willie O’Dea who has been rebranded as Willie O’Tea.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 10 November 2018. The reporter is Eleanor Mannion.
