section_path: Presidency/First term (2011–2018)
section_name: First term (2011–2018)
paragraph_text: First term (2011–2018)
  
  Higgins was inaugurated as president of Ireland at Dublin Castle on 11 November 2011. The ceremony had a humanist element, alongside Christian, Jewish and Muslim ones. He receives an annual salary of €250,000, having requested during his first term that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform reduce his salary by 23.5% from €325,000.
  
  Higgins travelled to Derry to attend the final of the All-Ireland School Choir of the Year competition on 13 November 2011 for his first official presidential engagement in Northern Ireland. In December 2011, he hosted a children's tea party at Áras an Uachtaráin. He attended the Bon Secours Hospital in Galway on 13 December for surgery on the kneecap that was broken in a fall during a visit to Buenaventura, Colombia in 2010.
  
  Higgins made his first official trip abroad when he went to London on 21 February 2012. While there he was given a tour of the Olympic Stadium by Sebastian Coe, and attended a production of Juno and the Paycock at the Lyttelton Theatre. He made his first official visit to his alma mater NUI Galway on 24 February, where he opened an autism centre. On 21 March 2012, Higgins was announced as sole patron of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. Addressing a conference organised by youth organisation Foróige on 24 March 2012, Higgins described homophobia and racism in Ireland as a "blight on society".
  
  In January 2012, Higgins agreed to become the patron of Clans of Ireland, including its Order of Merit. On the president's behalf, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar, awarded "Companionship" in this Order of Clans of Ireland to several nominees at a ceremony in the Mansion House, Dublin on 28 April 2012. On 11 May 2012, he became the 28th Freeman of Galway. In June 2012, nonprofit housing organisation Habitat for Humanity Ireland announced that Higgins would be their sole Patron. In October 2012, Higgins and his wife Sabina went to South America for a two-week trip, visiting Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Higgins rushed home from a visit to Rome, Italy, to sign the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Bill 2013 into law at Áras an Uachtaráin early on 7 February 2013, on the urgent request of the Government of Ireland. On 29 July 2013, he convened a meeting of the Council of State, the first of his presidency, to consult on the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013.
  
  Special advisor to the president, Mary van Lieshout, who formed part of the management team in Áras an Uachtaráin under Secretary General Adrian O'Neill, resigned in November 2013. The departure raised criticism over presidential management of the team. The presidential Christmas messages delivered by Higgins from 2011 to 2013 did not mention Christianity or religion, which was criticised by the Defence Forces ' chaplain in a homily on Christmas Eve 2013. The Chief of Staff expressed regret for any offence caused by the chaplain.
  
  In April 2014, Higgins paid the first state visit to the United Kingdom by an Irish president. He stayed as a guest of Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle and addressed both Houses of Parliament. He also met various people, including British prime minister David Cameron and opposition party leaders at Westminster, and the lord mayor of London, Alan Yarrow. In December 2014, Higgins made a week-long state visit to China.
  
  In November 2016, Higgins received criticism from some sections of the Irish media for praising Fidel Castro, saying in a statement that he learned of Castro's death with "great sadness".
  
  On 25 August 2018, Higgins received Pope Francis at Áras an Uachtaráin during the Pope's visit to Ireland.