The fifth party in a unique tradition of exclusive get-togethers involving staff from one of Dublin's oldest companies takes place on Thursday, the ninth day of the ninth month, nineteen ninety-nine.
Two retired staff from the Varian Brush company will travel to the Gresham Hotel just as they have on the dates 5/5/55, 6/6/66, 7/7/77 and 8/8/88.
Ms Ann McInerney from Cavan and Ms May Fagen from Herefordshire in Britain, both in their 70s, are the only members of the "Varian Girls" group surviving from the first party 44 years ago.
The Gresham has been the traditional meeting place and the last dinner on 8/8/88 involved eight former staff travelling from as far away as New Zealand.
A company director, Mr Peter Varian, explained that the tradition began when Betty Carroll, secretary to his father, Ian, in the 1940s, was typing the date for a letter.
"She noticed it was the 4/4/44 and that sparked off the idea for the dinners. Somebody in the office said: `I wonder where we will all be on the 5/5/55?' and they agreed to get together."
The dinners were restricted to members of the office staff in the 200-year-old company which employed more than 360 in the 1940s.
"Over the years the company supplied champagne, flowers and various extras for the parties, but this year we have booked the hotel and will pay for everything," Mr Varian said. "I think the tradition will see out the millennium but I'm not so sure about the next millennium, I have to say. It's still not bad going."
Ms McInerney, who is 75, is also doubtful that anyone will be left to celebrate on 11/11/11.
"A lot of the original 14 who went to the first dinner seem to have gone all of a sudden. The group has been steadily getting smaller as the younger crowd who joined the company later weren't invited.
"I am not sure I will be up to the Gresham when the next date comes round. One of the girls was in a nursing home and came out in a wheelchair in 1988. Maybe that is the way I will be going in 2011 if I am still alive.
"Varians was a great company to work for and everyone was very friendly. We had great fun and used to get together for picnics in the summer and go to places like Powerscourt; but the gatherings in the Gresham had a rule that no children or husbands were invited.
"I am really looking forward to catching up with the news and having a chat about old times. We will also be raising a glass to absent friends," she promised.
Joining the party this year will be another Varian retiree, Ms Rita Gordon, and two long-serving staff members, Ms Barbara Browne and Ms Maureen O'Reilly.
Two of the parties were arranged when the brush factory was in Talbot Street in the city centre, and this week's will be the third since it moved to South Circular Road in 1972.