Higgins to be sworn in as Ireland's ninth President

Michael D Higgins will be inaugurated as the country's ninth President at a special ceremony in Dublin Castle today.

The veteran politician, poet and campaigner will take up his seven-year role as head of state after a formal swearing-in in front of outgoing President Mary McAleese, Taoiseach Enda Kenny and invited guests.

Mr Higgins, 70, is expected to arrive before midday and has requested a moment of private reflection in the Connolly room of Dublin Castle, named in honour of the 1916 rebel leader James Connolly, before the ceremony starts.

The inauguration will include a Christian service of prayer followed by blessings from Islamic and Jewish representatives and a moment of reflection to mark the humanist philosophy and secular aspects of Irish life.

During his election campaign, Mr Higgins spoke about the need to be more inclusive and also suggested the presidential oath could be modernised to support that idea.

Chief Justice Susan Denham will read aloud the Declaration of Office to Mr Higgins, who will repeat it, followed by a formal signing in St Patrick’s Hall.

After the ceremony is complete, the Presidential Standard, blue with a gold harp, will be hoisted above Dublin Castle and at his residence in the Phoenix Park, Áras an Úachtaráin.

The Defence Forces will fire a 21-gun salute from the grounds of Collins Barracks a mile away from the ceremony to mark the new head of state’s term in office.

The Chief Justice will also present the presidential seal to President Higgins and he will be congratulated by the Taoiseach.

President Higgins will make his inauguration address to the invited audience in St Patrick’s Hall.

The ceremony draws to a close with the national anthem Ámhran na bhFiann before the President inspects a Defence Forces’ Guard of Honour made up of 107 officers in the courtyard of the castle.

The troops will be led by Officer in Charge Captain Emmett Harney and Flag Officer Lieutenant Deirdre Carbery, whose father Colonel Declan Carbery served for a period as Aide de Camp to outgoing President McAleese.

The ceremony lasts about an hour-and-a-half and includes a few minutes when President Higgins and his wife Sabina meet children in the castle grounds.

Two bands of the Defence Forces will play, one inside the castle and the other outside, and a ceremonial march-past will take place at the same time as a fly-past involving four Air Corps aircraft.

The President will then be escorted to the Áras by motorcycle outriders.

Mr Higgins follows President McAleese, widely praised and heralded for her 14-year, two term in office and her theme of building bridges with communities across the Republic and the North.

In his election speech, the former Labour Party politician vowed to lead the country in a necessary change in thinking in society and away from values based on wealth.

Mr Higgins, who secured more than one million votes, said his seven-year term will be defined by efforts to turn inclusion into reality.