Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Barney Whelan was there to provide arts sponsorship to dancers, musicians, artists and actors.
There were choked voices all round as Whelan bid farewell to friends who have worked with him in his post as ESB public relations manager. In September, he begins his new brief as director of marketing and communications at SafeFood, a North-South body set up under the Belfast Agreement.
The farewell party, held in Pacific Restaurant, on Sycamore Street in Temple Bar, this week, featured a performance by Anúna, the traditional choral group which is currently celebrating its 15th year. The group is playing the National Concert Hall on Thursday, July 25th.
Whelan's wife, archaeologist Margaret Gowen, and their three children, Hugh (9), Lise (11) and Jack (13), along with Whelan's mother, Mabel Whelan, were all present to enjoy the party and feel proud.
He has "left an imprint on the arts infrastructure in Ireland . . . and taught a whole generation of arts professionals how to communicate and secure sponsorship", said broadcaster and arts director Gerry Godley, who worked closely with Whelan in developing the successful ESB Dublin Jazz Festival.
Whelan, he said, "has raised the level of engagement between arts and business to a new plateau, frequently conducting market research, and generally gathering intelligence which he happily shared with his partner arts organisations".
He has "created a template for the business community", which allows them to feel safe about arts sponsorship, he said.
According to Larry Donald, head of corporate affairs and company secretary of the ESB, Whelan's work in measuring the impact of ESB's sponsorship "has been hugely important to the company . . . and on a much wider front, in enhancing the credibility and substance of sponsorship as an instrument of communication".
Ali Curran, director of the Peacock Theatre, said she was looking forward to the opening of a co-production with Galway Arts Festival of The Drawer Boy, with John Mahoney of Frasier fame. Sheila Pratschke, of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, Co Monaghan; Tony Ó Dalaigh, who was recently awarded a Doctorate of Law by UCD; Bríd Tunney, a long-standing and valued ESB colleague and Judith Woodworth, director of the National Concert Hall, were there to wish Whelan good luck.
After almost 25 years, there were cheers and even a few tears. And he's still only a youthful lad who graduated with a first-class honours doctorate in fisheries ecology in 1978. No doubt, the best is yet to come.