On the 11th of November, Dublin Castle filled with state dignitaries, ambassadors and religious leaders from across the community to inaugurate Catherine Connolly as the tenth President of the Republic of Ireland. In her inaugural speech, Connolly quoted the proverb, coined by Irish nationalist Pádraig Pearse, ‘Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam’, (a country without a language is a country without a soul). This phrase was central to her speech and may define her presidency.
The Irish language is an integral part of Connolly’s identity and was central to her campaign as an Independent candidate. For her rival Heather Humphreys, the lack of the ability to speak Irish was one of her biggest weaknesses. Catherine Connolly managed to shock the world by winning a 63.8% majority against the establishment. Irish became such an important part of the election and was an integral part to this victory, a major triumph for the left.
For Catherine Connolly, the Irish language is so much more than an element of the Island’s culture. The use of the language in the public sphere has long been mostly ceremonial. During her campaign she frequently gave full interviews in Irish as well as dropping in words in Irish whenever she could, (called using your cúpla focal). In her inaugural speech today, the focus was certainly on giving respect to Irish and lamenting its relegation to second place in Irish society:
“Cuireadh ár dteanga, teanga ársa ár sinsir, teanga ina bhfuil spiorad ár sinsir agus nadúr na tíre le mothú i ngach uile focal sa dara áit gan meas nó ómos tughta di.” (Our language was put in second place, without regard or respect, the ancient language of our ancestors, the language in which the spirit of our ancestors and the nature of the country are present in every single word.)
Her approach to Irish goes far beyond just ceremonial, it is an essential part to her political agenda.
President Connolly pointed towards how using the Irish language at home can help to navigate the various problems facing the world. Throughout her campaign and inaugural speech, President Connolly has put particular attention on the many plights of the world at the moment, domestic and foreign. Specifically, she is an outspoken critic of the Israel’s conduct in the conflict in Gaza. At a lunch she hosted at Áras an Uachtaráin (residence of the president of Ireland), she recommended that those attending learn Irish as “it is part of the solution”. She said that it offered the privilege to see the world through a different lens. For Connolly, Irish does not have the “false distinction” between man and nature that she said the English language does. In this way, the Irish language can be an important element to Ireland’s diplomatic mission.
President Connolly also seeks to return Irish to its original stature in political language. Before her inauguration, she spoke of how she wishes to make Irish the principal language of Áras an Uachtaráin (presidential residence). She has called throughout her campaign to pull Irish out from the Margins and into front and centre. In her speech at Dublin Castle, she made a call to action, “ligimis and Gaeilge a bhláthú” (let Irish bloom). This is very culturally significant for the country but also calls the language back into the political sphere.
The Irish language was one of the deciding factors of this election. Its reach during President Connolly’s inaugural speech has been so much more than ceremonial. For Connolly, Irish is to be the prism used to guide Ireland in how we negotiate relations with other countries. Both honouring one of the most ancient languages in Europe and the founders of the Irish Free State, while using the native language as a guiding light for the modern political landscape.
