Burke reaction: When journalists started to call on the home of Ray Burke early yesterday they were told by a female family member - via an intercom - that he was not available. After a while the calls were simply ignored.
But then, at around noon, the man himself emerged from his Griffith Downs' home and made a bee-line for the BMW parked in the driveway.
Photographers and camera crews scurried around him and he remained courteous, if brief, when answering press questions.
"Thanks for waiting for so long," he said, as if buttering up hacks on an election campaign, "but there will be absolutely no comment."
He then jumped into the car and rolled down the window to let the photographers get a snap of his face, urging them to "think of the neighbours".
One couple on Mr Burke's street - where a number of the expensive houses have been fitted with white PVC windows and mock Doric columns - were returning home just as the press pack was preparing to head for the hills. One of the pair put a jacket over his head to hide his face, mocking the cameras.
But there was no such sheepishness on the part of Mr Burke. If the CAB's demand for €2 million had darkened his morning, he was hiding it well.
But whether his upbeat demeanour will be maintained during sustained probing by the Criminal Assets Bureau remains to be seen.
