FORTY-FIVE years after Martin Luther King delivered one of history’s most memorable speeches, his dream finally came true yesterday.

On August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, the great civil rights campaigner talked of having a dream that his country would treat all of its people as equals, irrespective of their colour.

It has taken half a century, but Barack Obama’s inauguration as the first black President of the US is the most important, the most symbolic, and the most inspirational realisation of that vision.

It is a reminder, amid all that is wrong with the world, of the progress the human race has made and must continue to make.

There will be those who will hope with all their hearts that President Obama will fail. But they are in the tiny minority.

Not only in the US but across the globe, millions of people are pinning their hopes on Mr Obama living up to the immense promise which he embodies.

They want him to be a unifying force in the world; to find a new way forward that leads to greater tolerance between countries.

They want him to be the answer to the worst economic crisis in decades which has led to misery for millions worldwide.

They want him to restore their trust in politicians by simply being the thoroughly decent man they believe him to be.

We must all wish him well as he attempts to live up to the dreams of so many.