The Commons Restaurant in Newman House celebrated its seventh birthday on Wednesday in the best way a restaurant can - by throwing a big party for clients and friends. It was a double celebration as owners Mike and Maggie Fitzgerald were also showing off the renovations and additions to the restaurant which has long been a favourite with Dublin's smart set even if it recently fell out of favour with Monsieur Michelin.
The whole of Newman House had been thrown open for the occasion and in a rare sun-filled lull in this week's schizophrenic weather, people gathered in the courtyard before moving up to the bumper-to-bumper reception in the main hall.
First, though, most people stopped to admire the latest addition to the Commons's art collection - seven works by James Hanley which were commissioned especially for the Newman Room. James, whose mother-in-law Brid Dukes of the Hallward Gallery also came along, admitted that the pieces had involved rather a lot of research as they include painted replicas of lots of Newman's letters and diaries. Apart from this new role as Newman forger, James is fast becoming established as the most sought-after portrait artist in town and is also working towards a large exhibition in the RHA later this year.
Speaking of portraits, it seems the Solomon Gallery's Suzanne MacDougald will have an unusual role in a forthcoming exhibition at the Hugh Lane Gallery. Director Barbara Dawson explained that the big retrospective of artist Bridget Ganley will include a portrait of Suzanne as a young girl. Barbara herself is up to her eyes in plans for the big fundraising dinner for her gallery in Dublin Castle later this month.
Other people in Newman House included the former Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds and his wife Kathleen; Boyzone manager, Louis Walsh; Geraldine Kearney and John Costigan of the Gaiety theatre; novelist Elizabeth Palmer; actor's agent Teri Hayden and her husband, Brian Palmfry; the owner of Eircell, Stephen Brewer, and Principal Management's Trevor Bowen.
Meanwhile, downstairs in the Commons foyer, manager Virginia Fortune's friends gathered for a chat - designer Lainey Keogh; artists' agent Isobel Smyth; Taidgh Meehan of Malham, the silk screen printers; copywriter Johnny Ferguson, and Rachel Sexton of Digges Downstairs club.