Presidential Inauguration (Ireland)
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The Presidential Inauguration is the Irish state ceremony by which the President of Ireland takes office. While in hereditary monarchies coronations are symbolic ceremonies, the new monarch's reign having already begun upon the death or abdication of the previous monarch, the Irish presidential inauguration is the legal entrypoint into office for a president (as with the inauguration of the President of the United States.)
The ceremony traditionally takes place on the day following the expiry of the term of office of the preceding President.
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[edit] Origins
During the period of the Irish Free State (1922 to 1937), the Governor-General had been installed into office as the representative of the Crown in a low-key ceremony, twice in Leinster House (the seat of Oireachtas Éireann), but in the case of the last Governor-General, Domhnall Ua Buachalla, in his brother's drawing room. By contrast, Bunreacht na hÉireann, the Irish constitution adopted in 1937, provided that the President of Ireland would be inaugurated in state in a major public ceremony.
To highlight the significance of the event, all key figures in the executive (the Government of Ireland), the legislature (Oireachtas Éireann) and the judiciary attend, as do members of the diplomatic corps and other invited guests.
[edit] Location
No location is specified in the constitution, but all inaugurations have taken place in St. Patrick's Hall in the former Viceregal Apartments, now State Apartments in Dublin Castle.
[edit] Ceremony
The President-elect (see below) travels either from Áras an Uachtaráin in the case of an immediate past president who has been re-elected, or from their own private home in the case of a new president, and is escorted to the ceremony in Dublin Castle in a famous 1940s Rolls-Royce, with an escort of the Blue Hussars. On arrival they are escorted into the state apartments and up to the throne room by the Tánaiste or another senior member of government. They then proceed to the dais in St. Patrick's Hall, where they sit on the former Viceregal throne. There they take the Declaration of Office, which is administered by the Chief Justice. After delivering their inauguration address they then are escorted to Áras an Uachtaráin by the Blue Hussars.
[edit] Rituals and traditions
- The Black Car: For the 1945 inauguration President-elect Sean T. O'Kelly was escorted to and from the ceremony by the Blue Hussars on horseback. The President-elect and Mrs O'Kelly travelled in the late Queen Alexandra the Queen Mother's horse-drawn landau. However in 1947 the Irish government controversially abandoned the use of carriages and Irish horses in state ceremony. The Hussars instead became a motorcycle troop while the landau was replaced by a new Rolls Royce. That Rolls Royce continues to be used, and has become as much a symbol of the Irish presidency as the Irish State Coach is a symbol of the British monarchy.
- Religion: The presidential inauguration is exclusively a secular affair, unlike coronations. The only religious component is the mention of "God" in the Declaration of Office. Until 1983, on the morning of the inauguration the President-elect went to the cathedral of their faith (St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral if Roman Catholic, St. Patrick's Cathedral if Church of Ireland), where a religious ceremony, either a Pontifical High Mass, Divine Worship or an ecumenical service would take place. In a controversial change, in 1983 a new interfaith service of prayer, involving the heads of the Roman Catholic Church, Church of Ireland, Presbyterian Church, Methodist Church, Quakers, Irish Jewish Community and Islamic Community in Ireland, was introduced immediately before the secular inauguration ceremony in Dublin Castle. Critics suggested that the new religious ceremony, through separate from the state ceremony, blurred the lines between church and state. However, the format has continued to be used in all inaugurations since that date.
- Dress codes: In 1938 a decision was taken to make the inauguration a formal dress affair. The President-elect would wear a morning suit as would the guests, while diplomats would wear morning suits or national dress. Judges would wear full wigs and gowns. In 1997 this policy was abandoned at the request of President-elect Mary McAleese, who insisted that all guests should wear lounge suits and that judges should attend wigless and gownless. This change, though praised by some, has been criticised by others.
[edit] President-elect
Though an outgoing President of Ireland who has been re-elected is usually described in the media as "president" prior to the taking of the Declaration of Office, that is actually incorrect. The Irish Constitution makes it clear that a president's term of office expires on the day before the inauguration of their successor. In the interregnum period, the Presidential Commission acts as president, through given that it is usually for less than 11 hours no Presidential Commission has ever been called on to do anything in that period. Technically for that period the outgoing president is a former president and, if re-elected, President-elect.
[edit] Footnotes
| Presidents of Ireland Uachtaráin na hÉireann |
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Douglas Hyde | Seán T. O'Kelly | Éamon de Valera | Erskine H. Childers | Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh | |
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See also Áras an Uachtaráin | Blue Hussars | Constitution of Ireland | Council of State | DeV's car | External Relations Act | Governor-General | |
