In the foyer of the Burlington Hotel a man is barking into a mobile phone. His tone is a few decibels short of rude but still loud enough to be irritating. "I recognise that voice," says Maureen Cairnduff, the well-connected editor of Who's Who in Ireland, breaking off from a conversation about the imminent publication of her third volume. Sure enough, Mr Mobile turns out to be an architect of some repute.
Cairnduff's eyes and ears are used to seeking out the successful. She is the arbiter of the great and the good and the rest who make it onto the list of the country's 1,000 most influential, a publication updated every eight years or so. By now she is used to the griping about who she has let in, or - even more gripe-worthy - who she has left out.
This time will be no different and Cairnduff says resignedly: "People will make criticisms and a lot of the time they will be right. But then you ask them to think of 1,000 influential people and they slow down after 50." Think you could do better? Well, go ahead and try - is her defiant sentiment.
Asked what criteria are used to decide who's in and who's out, Cairnduff states that the chosen are those who are successful and employ a lot of people. She consulted various Government departments and agencies - she mentions the Dairy Board more than once - to get the cream of the business crop.
The Celtic Tiger, tribunals and the property boom have all affected the content of the latest edition. The explosion in information technology has resulted in a slew of new, noteworthy names, while recent financial revelations have made prominent business people more reluctant to be included. Estate agents were the most reluctant, and Cairnduff estimates that 70 per cent of those she asked declined.
Some feel the book is a pale imitation of its British counterpart. In the original Who's Who - now running for more than 150 years and updated annually - once included, nobody is booted from its pages until they die. The editors therefore make sure each entry has already done something that will leave a lasting impression. Someone such as moderately successful crooner Brian Kennedy would not even make their shortlist.
But Who's Who in Ireland has no such qualms. Kennedy is one of the largest entries in the book, but one of his best, and far more successful friends, Ronan Keating is conspicuous by his absence. In fact, no member of Boyzone, our most successful Irish pop group, appears, although their manager, Louis Walsh, is included.
Cairnduff's response to this bumper oversight is curious. Appearing slightly defensive, she says that she phoned Walsh "40 times" to get biographical details on the band but none were forthcoming.
She says she also wanted to include Westlife in the book's list of 200 rising stars, but failed to find that information either. With some notable exceptions the less said about this section the better - the last publication had a People of Tomorrow section which, eight years later, could be re-titled Where are They Now?
When Louis Walsh was asked about this, he said that he did get a request for information from Cairnduff but on himself and Keating, and not the rest of the band. He went on to say that he had supplied the requested copy for Keating.
Ro and the boys are in good company. Asked about the omission of actor Pierce Brosnan, Cairnduff again has an explanation - something about Hollywood agents who never return calls. She also would have liked to include actor Gabriel Byrne, but says she couldn't get his vital statistics either.
The woman who hosted a zillion soirees during the era of her famous "first Friday salons" has said before that she feels like a piece of lace come publication time. People won't see the work, she reasons, they will just look at the holes.
Focusing on the entertainment world is perhaps unfair given that Cairnduff refers to Who's Who in Ireland as little more than a "dull and dry reference book". In some respects it's simply a beefed up IPA directory, which leaves the reader wondering where's the beef.
The mix of professionals, PR people, sports people, horse breeders, spiritual leaders, opera singers and politicians who didn't turn down the chance to wallow in their own publicity includes a fair smattering of mates or employees of the publisher Kevin Kelly; the editor of Kelly's retail trade mag, Checkout, "the premier Irish trade journal", Mary Brophy; Catherine Heaney, books and notices editor of Kelly's Image magazine; Jillian Bolger, editor of Food and Wine Magazine. The list goes on - and on.
The inclusion of no fewer than three Esat employees is also interesting given that the book is part-sponsored by the company.
The question is whether such a "dull" book is relevant any more, in an era when we like our celebrities wrapped up in glossy magazines such as VIP and OK! While they must look glossy, we also like to hear about their lives, warts and all, so we can pick over their traumas as well as their triumphs.
Who's Who in Ireland prefers to erase the nasty bits and, so, in Michelle de Bruin's entry there is no mention of (whisper it) drugs. Still, as Cairnduff asserts, the book will continue to be useful as a resource for international libraries and governments. It also sells well in Libya apparently - answers on the back of a postcard please.
Who's Who In Ireland, edited by Maureen Cairnduff, will be published by Kevin Kelly early next month, price £40