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Catherine Connolly has vowed to make Ireland a “republic worthy of its name” by using her presidency to champion diversity, the Irish language and the legacy of decolonisation.
Connolly spelled out a leftwing alternative to centre-right orthodoxy in her inauguration speech after being sworn in to office on Tuesday.
“We were led to believe that it was too great a leap, that our ideas were too far out, too left – at odds with the prevailing narrative,” she said, referencing her landslide victory in last month’s election.
“In shared conversations all over the country, however, it became evident that the dominant narrative did not reflect or represent people’s values and concerns. Time and time again, people spoke of how it served to silence, to other, to label, to exclude and to stifle critical thinking.”
On a day of pomp and celebration at Dublin Castle, formerly the seat of British rule, the 68-year-old former barrister said that as Ireland’s 10th president she would ensure “all voices” were heard and would promote climate action, tolerance and a Gaelic revival.
“The people have spoken and have given their president a powerful mandate to articulate their vision for a new republic, a republic worthy of its name where everyone is valued and diversity is cherished, where sustainable solutions are urgently implemented, and where a home is a fundamental human right.”
Connolly’s election shocked the political establishment. The independent leftwing legislator united opposition leftwing parties, energised young voters and trounced the ruling Fine Gael party’s candidate, Heather Humphreys, by winning 64% of the vote.
The presidency is a largely ceremonial post but the outgoing president, Michael D Higgins, stretched the constraints and turned it into a platform for domestic and international issues, a practice Connolly is expected to continue.
In a ballroom packed with government figures, ambassadors and other dignitaries, including former presidents Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, Connolly lamented “the normalisation of war and genocide”.
Lauding Ireland’s neutrality – a potential source of friction with the government, which wants to cooperate with EU security initiatives, she said: “Our experience of colonisation and resistance of a catastrophic man-made famine and forced immigration gives us a lived understanding of dispossession, hunger and war and a mandate for Ireland to lead.”
Connolly also hailed the Good Friday agreement and referenced article 3 of Ireland’s constitution, which espouses a united Ireland with consent. The Democratic Unionist party (DUP) declined to send a representative to the inauguration but said no snub was intended.
Switching to Irish, Connolly repeated a commitment to prioritise the language in Áras an Uachtaráin, the presidential office and residence. “Irish will not be spoken in a low voice in the Áras, it will have first place as a working language.”
No country can express its desires or values if the native language spoken by ancestors was extinguished, she said. “It has been put in second place without sufficient respect or recognition. The hearts of our people were quenched when they were made to stop using their own language. It’s a language that expresses feelings and sentiment with every word.”
A 21-gun salute was fired as the new president received the seal of office.
