WORD is the ministers for finance from across Europe enjoyed their few pints in the Kitty O'Shea pub last weekend. They were particularly grateful to be away from the prying eyes of the media who were being wined and dined in Dublin Castle.

The Margin hears that Hans Tietmeyer, president of the Bundesbank, and a man not generally known for his raucous sense of humour, was approached in Kitty's by a local.

"Where are you from?" he was asked. "Only you look foreign." The local added: "So what do you do with yourself then?" Tietmeyer actually managed a smile, the Margin's man under the table noted.

German finance minister Theo Waigel said he enjoyed the night. "Guinness is very good," he told the Margin the next day. "In fact I think I may manage three pints tonight now that it's all over.

On Sunday Waigel left Dublin less noisily than his EU colleagues. He asked his Garda driver and outriders to switch off their sirens en route to Dublin Airport. "I want to enjoy a quiet drive through Dublin," he told them. The Margin is assured the few pints the night before had nothing to do with the request!