ATTENDEES:FORMER SUPREME Court judge Catherine McGuinness, musician Sharon Shannon and actor Tom Hickey who played Benjy in RTÉ TV's long-running rural soap The Riordanswere among President Michael D Higgins's diverse personal guests at the inauguration ceremony.
Mark Patrick Hederman, the Abbot of Glenstal Abbey, where Mr Higgins occasionally retreats, was invited, as was UCD academic Diarmaid Ferriter and award-winning costume designer Joan Bergin, whose work on the television drama The Tudorshas been widely celebrated.
Aside from the prominent figures from the political, legal and religious fields who attend State occasions, Mr Higgins was entitled to invite some 77 friends, supporters and relatives. At the top of his list were his children – Alice Mary, twins Michael and John, and Daniel – as well as other close family members.
Former ceann comhairle Séamus Pattison and Noel Gregory, brother of the late Independent TD Tony Gregory, were invited, along with Peadar Kirby, a DCU lecturer who spoke at the launch of Mr Higgins’s presidential campaign. Playwright Tom Murphy was another guest.
As former president of Labour, Mr Higgins invited a number of figures attached to that party. They included Cllr Emer Costello, wife of Labour TD Joe Costello, and the party’s general secretary Ita McAuliffe.
Tony Heffernan, Labour’s long-serving press director who took early retirement in April but returned to work on the presidential election campaign, also attended.
David Leach, Labour’s national organiser, Galway City councillor Niall McNelis, and Sally Mulready, a British Labour Party councillor who represents Hackney, were also in attendance.
Meanwhile, NUI Galway president Dr James Browne was invited, along with Colm O Briain, who was special adviser to Mr Higgins when he was minister for arts; Prof Gearóid O Tuathaigh; and the film producer Lelia Doolan. Some 350 children from 15 schools across Ireland attended the inauguration.
Many others were there in an official capacity. They included Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, as well as Cabinet Ministers and members of the Dáil and Seanad, along with MEPs. The new Chief Justice Susan Denham played a prominent role in the ceremony, administering the declaration of office to Mr Higgins and presenting him with the presidential seal, as former presidents Mary McAleese and Mary Robinson stood behind.
The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces Lieut Gen Seán McCann and the Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan were present. Judges of the Supreme and High Courts were invited. Members of the Council of State were present, as were members of the diplomatic corps.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness attended. The defeated presidential candidates and their spouses were also present
Music was provided by soloist Rita Connolly, Cois Cladaigh from Galway directed by Dr Brendan O’Connor, and the combined bands of the Defence Forces School of Music conducted by Lieut Col Mark Armstrong.
PERSONAL LIST: WHO THE PRESIDENT INVITED
Michael D Higgins’s invitees to the inauguration ceremony included the following:
Shauneen Armstrong
Joan Bergin
Jane Brennan
James Browne
Dan Canty
Emer Costello
John Coyle
Colm Coyne
Mary Kay Coyne-Philips,
George Cummins
Pádraig de Bhaldraithe
Ken Dempsey
Christopher Dillion
Mike Diskin
Evelyne Diskin
Lelia Doolan
Larry Duff
Mary Duff
Tom Duke
Ulic Egan,
Michael Farrell
Diarmaid Ferriter
Mike Geraghty
Margaret Geraghty
Noel Gregory
Msgr Malachy Hallinan
Mark Patrick Hederman
Tony Heffernan
Tom Hickey
Daniel Higgins
John Higgins
John Higgins
Michael Higgins
Alice Mary Higgins
Maureen Higgins
Sally Higgins-Radley
Teresa Hynes
Ray Kavanagh
Noel Keegan
Niall Kelly
Peter Kenny
Peader Kirby
David Leach
Kathleen Lough
Tadhg Lynch
Bernie Lyons
Kathleen Lyons
Angela Magennis
Nora Maguire
Ita McAuliffe
Kevin McCarthy
Brian McDowell
Catherine McGuinness
Pat McKeirnan
Eileen McKiernan
Neil McNelis
Paul Moore
Fidelma Mullane
Anne Mulligan
Lorraine Mulligan
Sally Mulready
Tom Murphy
Mags Murphy
Colm OBriain
Mureann OBriain
Donncha OConnell
Kevin ODriscoll
Christopher OGrady
Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh
Seamus Pattison
Conor Power
Sinead Power
Roy Radley
Sharon Shannon
Michael Treacy
Mary Winters
Sr Margaret Coyne
