The FG celebration for Garret FitzGerald's 75th birthday takes place tonight at Citywest, Co Dublin. It's a cross-party event, though no Fianna Failers as far as Quidnunc can ascertain, are expected. Among the 1,100 will be guest speaker Sir Geoffrey Howe; AG Michael McDowell; Ruairi Quinn - who will propose the after-dinner toast - John Hume; the British ambassador, Sir Ivor Roberts; Des O'Malley; Dick Spring; Pat Rabbitte and Liz McManus, as well as the great andthe good of FG, past and present. Michael Noonan makes the pre-dinner speech which should be a tour de force, as it's his first major appeal to the grassroots since he took over as leader last week.
A private party for Garret was held at the home of his son, Mark, on Palmerston Road, Dublin, the old family home, last Saturday, the actual birthday. FitzGerald - who is hobbling since injuring his foot on Dun Laoghaire pier - greeted 150 family and old friends. The highlight was a recitation by RTE's John Bowman of his own composition to honour the great man. To the Gilbert and Sullivan air, When he was a lad he served a term, as office boy in an attorney's firm, Bowman started off with "when he was a lad he served a term as office boy in an airline firm".
Here's one of the best verses:
Timetables he loved, whether air or train;
They excited one side of his wonderous brain.
Calculators he regarded with some disdain,
`They just slow me up' was his refrain.
Chorus:
They just slow me up was his refrain.
And though in economics he had no degree,
He was soon teaching it up in UCD.
There was much more in similar vein with mention of political rivals and even mongrel foxes and the whole assembly joined in.