His presence was eagerly expected, but Peter Mandelson, Secretary of State in Northern Ireland, was unavoidably detained. And so an exhibition of paintings by Kurt Jackson was opened at the Origin Gallery on Harcourt Street by the British Ambassador, Ivor Roberts, in his place.
And our host, Noelle Campbell Sharp, with tumbling corkscrew curls, told us that she'd dressed in a suit complete with shirt and tie "like Mandy - so that you wouldn't feel you'd missed out too much." And we didn't.
But Mr Mandelson did. He missed seeing the gallery's "champagne and cigar bar" downstairs, which features a chandelier straight from King Farouk's palace, as well as ruched passion-purple drapes, leopard skin-covered seats from a Newcastle West cinema and a stylish couch with up to the minute . . . eh . . . udders, not to mention Campbell Sharp's Napoleonic room upstairs, packed with artefacts and historic memorabilia, where a ceiling under canvas creates a tent-like effect. "I've studied Napoleon's energy since I was a child," she said.
Sculptor Orla de Bri was there to enjoy the bash. Up to five members of Kila kept our feet tapping and up to nine ambassadors were spotted moving among the throng, not forgetting the man with four pianos in his house - Vincent Nolan, a fish exporter.