Galway pride as Ireland’s tenth President is officially sworn into office
An emotional Catherine Connolly renewed her promise to be a President for all the people as she was officially sworn into office this week — on a day that Galway seemed to take over Dublin Castle.
The new President’s family alone — the Shantalla woman is famously one of 14 children — would have filled the room, but that Galway presence was swelled by her close friends who joined Ireland’s great and good in St Patrick’s Hall.
"I stand before you humbly and proudly as the tenth president of this beautiful country," she said, her eyes filled with emotion as she took in every second of her big day.
But President Connolly also used her inaugural address to point to what she called the existential threat of climate change and war.
“I’m thinking today of the 165 million people forcibly displaced due to war, famine and climate change,” she said.
She promised to foster an inclusive and open dialogue across the island — and beyond, because she made particular mention of the Irish Diaspora and how valued they were at home.
In a political speech that stayed true to her well-established principles, she also re-enforced her commitment to diplomacy — and confirmed that the Irish language would be an intrinsic part of her Presidency.
“I have never believed more in the spirit of this country; I have witnessed it in every corner and county of Ireland, in the music in the dance, the decency of the people,” she said.
She spoke of ‘the quiet dignity and stoicism of those who simply keep going despite the real challenges they face’.
She vowed to make Ireland ‘a country where everyone is valued and diversity is cherished’ — and what she called ‘the emergence of hope and joy along with courage and determination of people to use their voices to shape a country we can be proud of’.
President Connolly paid tribute to her predecessors who were present for her inauguration — Michael D Higgins, Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson — as she outlined the challenges they separately faced when they did what she was now doing, taking the reins as Ireland’s tenth President.
There were strands of Galway evident in the ceremony too with Uilleann Piper Eugene Lambe playing a haunting version of Galway Bay and Conamara sean-nós singer and harpist Síle Denvir singing Ó Riada’s Ár nAthair.
The Mayor of Galway City, Cllr Mike Cubbard, had a prime place of honour, sitting between First Minister of Northern Ireland Michelle O’Neill and the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Ray McAdam.
Pictured: President-elect Catherine Connolly during the Presidential Inauguration ceremony at Dublin Castle on Tuesday.