Staff members of Aras an Uachtarain had gathered in groups outside the residence awaiting the arrival of their new boss, who was hosting lunch there after her inauguration. The lunch for the 133 invited guests was scheduled to start at 1.30 p.m. but because of the time spent by the President greeting school children in the Castle Yard, it was 1.45 p.m. before the presidential motorcade swept up the avenue, and 2.20 p.m. before the last guest arrived.
As the President stepped from the Rolls-Royce, she was greeted by Sgt Valerie Colton of the 2nd Garrison of the Military Police stationed at the Aras and by Cpl Peter Devine from the same garrison. She stood to attention as Capt Tim O'Connell of the 2nd Cavalry Squadron played the Pres- idential Salute and then walked into the house, accompanied by her husband, Martin. Their children arrived about 15 minutes later.
The first of the invited guests to arrive were the President's parents, Mr Patrick and Mrs Mary Leneghan, followed immediately by the Minister for the Marine, Dr Woods, and the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, who managed her campaign. The former Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey, was among the early arrivals, and walked alone and rather shakily up the steps into the hall. Shortly afterwards, another former Taoiseach, Dr Garret FitzGerald, arrived, followed by a former President, Dr Patrick Hillery. Former President Robinson was unable to attend as she had had to go to London immediately after the inauguration.
Mr Albert Reynolds, a candidate for the Fianna Fail presidential nomination, was not present. He had sent his regrets, explaining he would be abroad. Former Taoisigh, Mr Jack Lynch and Mr Liam Cosgrave also attended.
The Chief Justice, Mr Justice Hamilton, and the Belfast-born writer and former Beirut hostage, Brian Keenan and his wife, were among the early arrivals.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, accompanied by the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, went into Aras an Uachtarain with their military escort shortly after 2 p.m.
At 2.10 p.m., the three McAleese children, Emma, Justin and Sara-Mai, were driven to their new home. Emma and Sara-Mai went inside, while Justin waited outside for relatives to arrive.
A Bus Eireann coach came with most of the rest of the guests. Among those were Gay Byrne, the singer-songwriter, Phil Coulter, and the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all-Ireland, Dr Sean Brady.
Other clergy included the Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Robin Eames; the Rev John Dunlop, former moderator of the Presbyterian church, and Father Alex Reid, the Redemptorist with whom President McAleese had been involved in a peace mission before the last IRA ceasefire. Another colleague in that mission, Mr Jim Fitzpatrick, proprietor of the Irish News, was also a guest, as was the US-based publisher, Mr Niall O'Dowd.
Also present were Mrs Annie Maguire, along with two sons, Patrick and Vincent, who were all wrongly convicted of involvement in the Guildford bombing.
Lunch consisted of courgette and basil soup, followed by steamed supreme of salmon with lemon-and-herb butter and cream sauce, asparagus tips, sauteed leeks and potato, then a selection of Irish cheeses and lemon-andapple torte with toffee sauce. Champagne and a 1995 Cotes du Rhone were served.