When deputies returned to Leinster House on Wednesday one of the greatest shocks to hit them was that not just one bar, but two, had disappeared. Both members and visitors' bars are being renovated and the entrances have been boarded up. For last Saturday's dinner in Leinster House for the EU finance ministers, governors of central banks, their spouses and officials - about 150 in all - which was hosted by Ruairi Quinn and Hugh Coveney the boards were taken away and the walls camouflaged and painted to look real and permanent. Hence the shock. Meanwhile the private dining room, which is used by ministers, is being turned into a bar for those who feel they can't do without.
Ruairi's dinner cost approximately £30 a head, which is considerably cheaper than it would have been in one of the capital's leading restaurants which usually get the custom from these high-Euro visits. The menu included a trio of salmon, corned beef with whiskey, cheese and an assortment of red fruits. The wines were a Chablis 1994 Dufocleur and a Marques de Vergas - Reserva 1992 followed by liqueurs.