As the public inauguration of US President Barack Obama for his second term was ongoing in Washington DC on Monday 21 January, the US Embassy in Dublin hosted a special viewing reception in Ballsbridge.
As the public inauguration of US President Barack Obama for his second term was ongoing in Washington DC on Monday 21 January, the US Embassy in Dublin hosted a special viewing reception in Ballsbridge.
Chargé d’affaires John Hennessey-Niland addressed an audience including politicians, diplomats, the media and friends and family members of embassy staff who came to watch the live inauguration of both President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
Speaking just before the event, Hennessey-Niland briefly explained the tradition of the US presidential inauguration, which begun in New York City in 1789 with the swearing in of first US President George Washington.
He added that President Obama’s second term inauguration was the 57th such ceremony to take place. The ceremony has been televised since 1949.
After swearing the 35-word oath prescribed by the US Constitution as administered by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, President Obama unveiled his vision for the next four years in his second inaugural address.
“This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience,” he said. “A decade of war is now ending. An economic recovery has begun.
“America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands: youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention.
“My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together.”
President Obama called on all Americans to embrace and promote freedom, which he said is “our lasting birthright”.
The ceremony was attended by members of President Obama’s extended family; past, outgoing and proposed members of cabinet; as well members of the US Senate and House of Representatives, justices of the Supreme Court and several guests.
President Obama’s distant cousin Henry Healy from Moneygall, Co Offaly and local publican Ollie Hayes attended the inauguration in Washington.
