Representatives from the Government parties and the main Opposition were notably absent at the launch in the Civic Offices on Wood Quay of Frank McDonald's The Construction of Dublin - although, says the author, many were invited. But of course sleaze and donations for planning and all that was actually being debated in the Dail that same evening - Wednesday. Deputies Pat Rabbitte (Lab), Trevor Sargeant (Green) and Tony Gregory (Ind) turned up, as did Labour councillors Joan Burton, Dermot Lacy and John Gallagher, as well as Green Ciaran Cuffe and former junior ethics minister Eithne Fitzgerald. But property developers were not as shy, or maybe as busy, as politicians and those who attended included Johnny Ronan of Spencer Dock and Mark Kavanagh of the IFSC as well as estate agent Ken MacDonald, all of whom feature in the book.
The event marked another milestone in the ongoing relationship between Frank and the City Council, said the assistant city manager Owen Keegan and reminded Frank of a famous dictum of President Lyndon Johnson, which he wouldn't repeat. The author, meanwhile, said none of what he wrote was motivated by an ounce of malice - apart, that is, from the pic on page 205 which shows a smiling Ray Burke holding a copy of Murder Will Out by FF press officer Tom Reddy. But McDonald added quickly he didn't want to spend the summer writing solicitors letters about libel and so every line had been vetted by the most brilliant lawyers.