The President

Rotten weather for the Presidential inauguration. I had hoped to get in to town and maybe catch a glimpse of the motorcade, but it was lots easier just to sit at home and watch the TV coverage (which was utterly dreadful, I thought). I ended up with 250-odd shots of the telly, many of which were almost as dreadful as the TV coverage. Indeed, I was tempted to turn to fall-back instead but then decided otherwise (after all, it's a big day in our political life).

As from 12:30 pm, Michael D Higgins took office as the ninth President of Ireland. That's the moment at which he signed the official declaration, having previously taken the oath of office, administered by the Chief Justice. The religious element was all a bit much, really, but some of the musical interludes were quite wonderful. The man himself was wonderful. Far from sitting still in his chair looking presidential, he was constantly turning and keeping track of proceedings - right from the off, in fact, it's clear that this President's style will be very different to what we've been used to over the past twenty-one years with the two Marys.

President Higgins's speech was inspiring, setting out in crystal-clear fashion what his plans are for his time in office, and his delivery was confident and passionate. I wish him well.