Ruairi Quinn proved himself not only an art connoisseur but also a darned good salesman, when he did the honours at the opening night of Oliver Whelan's exhibition at the Temple Bar gallery on Wednesday night. He talked with some acuity about Oliver's work and then stated with a gleam in his eye: "Oliver's work is superb - I should know because I own two and as a former Minister for Finance I also know the importance of talking up the market."
Guests on the night included Ruairi's brother and Merrion Hotel owner, Lochlann Quinn; Michael Mousley of Interface, who sponsored the exhibition; architects Dee Maguire and Michael Foley of Elliot Maguire, and Hugh Maguire of A. & D. Wejchert; Henry Noonan of Telecom Eireann; Donough Murphy of An Bord Pleanala, and Peter Fitz- gerald who has taken over from Tanya Kiang as editor of Circa magazine.