President Catherine Connolly says she will be a ‘catalyst for change’ over next seven years
President Catherine Connolly will use her seven years as Ireland’s 10th president to be a “catalyst for change”.
Ms Connolly was formally inaugurated in the historic setting of St Patrick’s Hall in Dublin Castle on Tuesday, in front of the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, former presidents, judges, politicians and her friends and family.
Shortly after 12.30pm, she was declared President of Ireland after repeating the declaration of office which was read to her by Chief Justice Donal O’Donnell. Ms Connolly signed the declaration, becoming the 10th President of Ireland.
In her inauguration speech, the President referenced a number of social issues which had defined her successful campaign. In her opening remarks, she said she had been given a “powerful mandate” by the public to “articulate their vision for a new republic, a republic worthy of its name”.
Ms Connolly mentioned diversity, climate justice and the housing crisis, telling those gathered that “a home is a fundamental human right”. She was critical of a “prevailing narrative” which had suggested her left-wing unity campaign was “too far out, too left”.
“However, it became evident that the dominant narrative did not reflect or represent people’s values and concerns,” she said.
Ms Connolly, who made neutrality a central part of her successful campaign, said it was “significant” that her inauguration was November 11th, Remembrance Day. She said that Ireland had “a long and cherished tradition of neutrality and an uninterrupted record of peacekeeping since 1958”, which made Ireland “particularly well placed” to articulate alternative solutions to war.
“Indeed, our experience of colonisation and resistance of a catastrophic man-made famine and forced emigration gives us a lived understanding of dispossession, hunger and war and a mandate for Ireland to lead,” the President said.
In front of former presidents Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese and outgoing president Michael D Higgins, Ms Connolly cited the backdrops against which each of them had become president: the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1990, the peace process leading to the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement in 1997 and the fallout from the financial crash in 2011.
President Catherine Connolly reviews members of the Defence Forces in the Guard of Honour outside Dublin Castle on Tuesday. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
Ms Connolly said that she was being inaugurated while the world faces the existential threat of climate change and continuing wars, two threats which she said were “inextricably linked.”
She said that people displaced by war, famine and climate change were the “challenges of our times”. It was the responsibility of those in public office “to come together, both nationally and internationally, to lead and to create the conditions for a sustainable existence on our planet”.
Citing Article 3 of the Constitution, which says it is the “firm will of the Irish nation, in harmony and friendship, to unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland”, the President said she would “foster an inclusive and open dialogue across the island”.
She cited the diaspora, and said she hoped to use her seven years to celebrate them and their experiences. Ms Connolly described how she has “never believed more in the spirit of this country” which she witnessed over the course of her campaign. She described “solidarity and decency that continues to be the dominant force behind our people” and “the quiet dignity and stoicism of those who simply keep going despite the very real challenges that they face”.
[ Eight things to listen out for in Catherine Connolly’s inauguration speechOpens in new window ]
The President also dedicated a section of her speech to the Irish language, saying in Irish that the language “has such importance in projecting the soul and spirit of the country. I understand that for many years that soul and spirit were repressed. It was done deliberately in some cases, or because of neglect, a lack of care or a lack of understanding.”
“Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam,” she said. (A country without a language, a country with a soul.) Ms Connolly said that Irish will “not be spoken in a low voice in the Áras, it will have first place as a working language”.
President Catherine Connolly and her husband, Brian McEnery, greet children from Francis Street national school at Dublin Castle. Photograph: Sam Boal/Collins
The President’s inauguration featured a religious ceremony including the leaders of all main faiths in Ireland. The musical performers at the inauguration included the Army Number 1 Band conducted by Comdt Fergal Carroll.
Síle Denvir, a native Irish speaker from Connemara in Ms Connolly’s home county of Galway, sang a sean-nós rendition of Ár nAthair and played the harp. Dublin-born mezzo-soprano Gemma Ní Bhriain performed Amhrán na bhFiann and the uilleann pipes were played by Eugene Lambe.
After he read her the presidential declaration in Irish, the Chief Justice presented Ms Connolly with the presidential seal. The seal, which was created in 1937, features the Brian Boru harp with the word Éire printed underneath. The seal is also decorated with Celtic emblems from the Ardagh Chalice. The same seal will feature on any orders signed by the President.
Ms Connolly sat in the presidential inauguration chair, which was first commissioned in 2011 for president Michael D Higgins. The outstretched arms of the ceremonial chair were designed to represent the “céad míle fáilte” of the ambassadorial role of the president.
After her speech, Ms Connolly walked in to the courtyard of Dublin Castle where she conducted her first guard of honour inspection. The Air Corps carried out a fly-past while the band performed the presidential salute. Ms Connolly greeted children from third and fourth class at Francis Street School before she departed for Áras an Uachtaráin.
The President wore a purple outfit and silver earrings, both by Irish designer Louise Kennedy. The outfit consisted of a knee-length purple wool coat, a matching purple silk blouse and purple wool wide-leg trousers. Ms Kennedy famously designed the purple outfit that Ireland’s first woman president, Mary Robinson, wore to her inauguration in 1990.
