President-elect Catherine Connolly must consider what her presidency will be and how the political programme which expresses it will be structured. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/ Getty Images

After the count was concluded a week ago, Catherine Connolly and her team went to a private room allocated to them in Dublin Castle.

There they had a call with incumbent President Michael D Higgins, before decamping to O’Donoghue’s on Merrion Row to celebrate her victory.

But with that historic achievement secured, president-elect Connolly is embarking on a new journey. Amid briefings and meetings, she must decide on everything from the music for the inauguration to the key themes of her first speech as president – coming in at a snappy three to five minutes during the ceremony.

For Connolly, everything from staffing appointments to preparations for handling her diplomatic and constitutional duties must be thrashed out – all the while considering what her presidency will be; and how the political programme which expresses it will be structured.

Meanwhile, many audiences are theorising on this very question – looking for clues on what the Connolly presidency will look like.

Government sources push back strongly on any suggestion that preparations are being made on the presumption of an antagonistic relationship with the president.

Within the Government and the Civil Service there is an abiding view that, while campaigning, Connolly repeatedly and explicitly acknowledged the constitutional and conventional constraints on her office, and an expectation that she will adhere to them.

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