It is all swords and shields, helmets with horns and gruff talking at the launch of the Viking Splash Tours. But while Michael Moylan and Dermot O'Neill set the scene with their wild hair, unshaven faces and a fierce battle, the rest of the gathered are a little more composed.
Linda Richards-Stocks and her American husband, Peter Stocks, are on hand to explain to the unenlightened about the amazing DUKWs - amphibious vehicles turned tour-buses, which whizz around Dublin city filled with adventurous tourists before splashing into the Grand Canal for a bit of waterborne sightseeing. But will it take off? Most definitely, says Frank McGee of Dublin Tourism; without a doubt, says Denise Brophy of Dublinia; for sure, for sure, says Gerry Macken of the Dublin City Enterprise Board. McGee reckons the odd-looking, colourful vehicles bundling along the streets and the waterways are well suited Dublin because "we like to laugh at ourselves. It's a fun city."
But the fun the politicians do miss out on, as they are fashionably late. The Minister for Fun (Tourism, Sport and Recreation) Jim McDaid puts in an late appearance, as does former Senator Pat Magner.