The good times are certainly rolling for Irish architects. Yesterday, an estimated 250 of them jetted off to Chicago for their annual conference, no doubt to pick up some clues about how to design elegant high-rise buildings. And what a coup the RIAI has scored in securing Noel Dempsey, Minister for the Environment and man of the moment, to deliver the opening speech at the half-day proceedings tomorrow in the Intercontinental Hotel's Renaissance Room. By that stage, most of those present will have taken part in tours to see such architectural delights as the Sears Tower, which is even taller than New York's World Trade Centre, not to mention Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House and Chicago Institute of Technology.

Cost of participation in this year's RIAI bash is steep, at around £1,300 per head. But most of the delegates will be able to write it off as a tax-deductible expense, because of the educational value of the conference, while dreaming about building skyscrapers in Dublin.