Every thread was made in Katmandu, says Cathal O Searcaigh, looking down at his blue suit of wool and linen, all topped off by a neat little pill box. The newly honoured Doctor of Celtic Studies has just arrived to help open the new Irish-language restaurant in Dawson Street - Tri D.
His love poem - Bionn an ocrach craosach (the hungry one is ravenous) - is an instant hit. "Ta se iontach exotic," he says. A collection of his poems encompassing the years 1975 to 2000 will be published in September.
Daire Mag Cuill, a lecturer in DIT, is one of the restaurant's regular customers, charmed especially by its "cappuccino speisialta".
Micheal O Gruagain, chief executive of the North-South Language Body, is here chatting to Senator Camillus Mag Fhloinn, who tells him all about his town of Mullingar and its activities to promote the language, including the development of a cultural centre and the building of a new Gaelscoil. The musicians play The Maids of Cisco and soon Eamon O Cuiv TD, the Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and Islands, arrives to officially open Tri D for business.