LEADING OPPONENTS of EU integration, anti-abortion campaigners and prominent figures in the Irish news media featured on the guest list for Tuesday night's dinner in honour of Czech president Vaclav Klaus, hosted by Declan Ganley of Libertas.
Among those who accepted Mr Ganley's invitation to the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin were leading EU critics Jens-Peter Bonde, a former Danish MEP; Anthony Coughlan of the National Platform; Austrian MEP Dr Hans-Peter Martin and French MEP and unsuccessful presidential candidate Philippe de Villiers.
Broadcaster Eamon Dunphy; editor of the Irish edition of the Sunday TimesFrank Fitzgibbon; Irish Independentcolumnist Bruce Arnold; business journalist Constantin Gurdgiev; Mail on Sundaypolitical editor John Lee; Daily Mailand Mail on Sundaycolumnist Richard Waghorne; and Jason O'Toole, author of a new biography of the Taoiseach, were also on Mr Ganley's guest list.
Others included Independent MEP for Ireland South, Kathy Sinnott; former Green Party MEP for Dublin, Patricia McKenna; leading anti-abortion campaigners Caroline Simons and John Smith; lobbyist with the Christian organisation Care for Europe David Fieldsend; Paul MacDonnell of the former Open Republic Institute; and Czech ambassador to Ireland Dr Tomas Kafka and other Czech officials.
The guests, who numbered close to 100, were entertained by the Irish Chamber Orchestra from the University of Limerick under the direction of Prof Micheal Ó Suilleabháin as well as a troupe of set-dancers. The menu consisted of house-cured Irish salmon followed by grilled tenderloin steak and vanilla crème brulee.
Asked why she attended, former Green Party MEP for Dublin Patricia McKenna said: "The main reason for going was because I was annoyed that the Government wanted to suppress the views of President Klaus and restrict media access to him.
"Clearly, there is an attempt by the political establishment to keep the Irish people in the dark about the fact that there are people out in Europe who agree with their rejection of the Lisbon Treaty," she added.
On her own attitude to Libertas, Ms McKenna said: "I would have very different views on quite a lot of issues, but everybody is entitled to their opinion. I would be on the left, Libertas wouldn't be, but the one thing everybody has in common is that the people's verdict on Lisbon should be respected and that there is a lack of accountability within the EU."
The list of those who accepted an invitation to attend was as follows: Mr Declan Ganley; Mr Jens-Peter Bonde; Ms Jens-Peter Bonde Dr Hans-Peter Martin; Ms Caroline Simons; ambassador Tomas Kafka; First Lady Livia Klausova; guest of honour, Czech president Vaclav Klaus; Mr Gary Hunter; Mr Pat Flynn; Mr Robin Matthews; Mrs Frances Matthews; Mr David (Harry) Hewitt; Mrs Frances Hewitt; Mr Kevin O'Connell; Mrs Kevin O'Connell; Mr Philip Lee; Mr Denis Bergin; Mr John Hughes; Mrs Helen Hughes; Mr Darius Sobkow; Mr Christophe Beaudouin; Mr Philippe de Villiers; Mr Mike Feerick; Mr Jiri Weigl; Mr Jiri Brodsky; Ms Margaret Costigan; Mr Bruce Arnold; Mrs Mavis Arnold; Mr Anthony Coughlan; Mrs Muriel Coughlan; Mr Patrick Louis; Mr Constantin Gurdgiev; Ms Jennifer Hord; Mr Frank Fitzgibbon; Mrs Frank Fitzgibbon; Mr Tomas Pojar, Czech deputy minister for foreign affairs; Mr Ladislav Mravec; Mr John Reid; Fr Michael Ross; Mrs Anita Kelly; Mr Gerard Lawless; Mrs Catherine Reid; Mr Chris Coughlan; Mr Colum Coughlan; Mr Michael Ganley; Mrs Bernadette Ganley; Mrs Margaret Roarty; Mr Eamon Dunphy; Ms Jane Goggin; Mr Paul MacDonnell; Ms Catherine McCartney; Mr Damien Fallon; Mrs Fiona Fallon; Mr Alan Kennedy; Ms Marta Myskova (photographer); Mrs Libuse Schmidova; Mr David Cochrane; Mrs Norrie Keane; Mr John Smith; Ms Mary Durkin; Mr Martin Mulroy; Mrs Eilis Mulroy; Ms Claire O'Donoghue; Ms Evonne Corcoran; Mr Francis O'Flaherty; Mr Sean Ascough; Mr Tom Ascough; Mrs Jackie Ascough; Mr Martin Daly; Mrs Barbara Daly; Cllr Martin Ward; Mrs Martin Ward; Mr Sean Ganley; Mr Tommy Keane; Mrs Claire Keane; Mr John McGuirk; Mr Richard Waghorne; Mr Jason O'Toole; Mrs Agnieszka O'Toole; Mr Martin Alioth; Mrs Mary Finnegan; Mr John Lee; Mr Keith O'Grady; Mrs Zuzana Rìcov; Mr Jindrich Foreigt; Mr Radim Ochvat; Ms Kathy Sinnott; Mr David Fieldsend; Mr Jesper Katz; Mr Alan Campbell; Mr James Prior; Mr David Gray; Mr Keith Birch; and Mr Walter Patterson.