‘They have given their President a powerful mandate to articulate their vision for a new Republic.’There was no mistaking the political nature of President Catherine Connolly’s first address. She argued that, despite that, a new “hope” emerged and said that as president she would ensure all voices were represented. She said Mary Robinson was president at a time the Berlin Wall had fallen and there was a big shift in geopolitics. Mary McAleese had been president at a time when the Belfast Agreement was signed, setting out a shared vision for the future. ‘Ligimis don Ghaeilge blathú.’In a long passage of the speech in Irish, the President made it clear that Irish will have a central role in her presidency.
