The boss has taken the whole week off to see as many films as she can. Bridget Healy "has abandoned us for the week," says Sarah Hyland, a member of the staff at Cafe Paradiso Restaurant in Cork city. She doesn't mind - sure the whole city practically comes to a halt. It's opening night at Murphy's 44th Cork Film Festival. Sarah says the eight-day event is "huge, seriously".
Two cute Corkmen refuse to allow their names to be recorded for posterity by On The Town. "We're both Ansbacher account-holders," says one, smirking conspiratorially. "We can't be getting involved in that." The other adds: "Oh, yes, say nothing."
A blue silk kimono catches our eye. Annette Gibney, a Cork-based solicitor, also sports matching sky-blue eyeshadow and black stilettoes. Her friends crowd around, not a bit shy with their names. "I'm an artist and I'm all in black," says Sinead Ni Chionaola, from Dungarvan, Co Waterford. "I knitted my own jumper," says another. Beside Sinead is sister Brid, an actor - she's proud of her role in Not a Bad Christmas, a short which later gets the biggest cheer of the night.
Enda Walsh, writer and director of the film, is bowled over to be on the stage of the Opera House all because of his 13-minute film - he had, after all, spent the past seven years working in the city in theatre. Delighted parents Sean and Maeve Walsh are there too.
The festival's opening feature film, Limbo, starring Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, fails to impress some of the punters. "It should have been called "Hell - Hell, Everlasting," says one unhappy viewer. But Mary Elizabeth herself, there with her Lismore-born husband, director Pat O'Connor, is pleased with the film - it reflects what she felt she "was about" during the filming, she says shyly. She stays to have a mineral water after the screening and chat briefly with a few film buffs.
Lord Mayor Damian Wallace is wearing the heavy chain of office which dates back to 1787. "There's fierce history attached to that," he explains. His wife, Grace, has her own chain too, dating from the 1960s only. Their third child is due the first week of January. "I'm getting a great slagging about a millennium baby," she says.
Martin Murray, "a retailer in the fashion industry", cuts a dash with his Australian girlfriend, Elka Blackman. Shane Byrne, head technician with Toni & Guy, takes responsibility for a number of the hair-do's to be seen at the opening.
Cue Edie Demas, from Washington DC - she is director of the festival's education programme. How would she describe her dramatic and spiked red hair-style. "It's a bit of a bird's nest," she says, beaming, and hauls up the red velvet wrap she's wearing about her shoulders.
The red curtain finally goes up and festival chairman Charles Hennessy, glorious in an orange jacket, rises to speak. "For the first time in my life I have seen Mick Hannigan dressed up," he announces to the packed auditorium, looking at the festival director to his right, who is decked out in a very smart suit.
Hannigan himself explains that "we do wish to achieve a status of international significance". He says he expects audiences to exceed 25,000 before the end of the week and tells us there will be a choice of 16 shows on any one day. Tomorrow is the festival's last day.