It seems like only the other day we were being plagued by Mr Claus and all his reindeers yet, on Tuesday evening, details of this year's St Patrick's Day Festival - two months from now - were announced. The organising committee managed to charm us out of our begrudgery with a cacophony of drummers, a dazzle of fire-juggling and a few snakes thrown in for good measure, as we arrived at the Mansion House in the rain.
Inside, festival chairman Michael Colgan, executive director Marie Claire Sweeney and director Rupert Murray entertained a room full of people with the help of the Green Detectives. These rather alarming creatures wandered the room eyeing everybody through magnifying glasses while smoking large cigars. Apparently they are to be employed to identify and reward people wearing green during the festival and were obviously employed to keep the rest of us in line on Tuesday evening.
A number of the festival board members came along including Chris Britton, chief executive of Baileys Irish Cream; Tom Rea, managing director of Clerys; Ray Bates, director of the National Lottery, and Tony O'Dalaigh of the Dublin Theatre Festival. Eithne Healy, chair of the Theatre Festival, also came along as did John Donnelly of Deloitte and Touche.
The theatre world is always involved with the parade and was well represented. John Costigan, executive director of the Gaiety Theatre was there together with PR manager Geraldine Kearney, who has recently moved from the Abbey. Actor and director Alan Stanford chatted about his next project - he is going into rehearsal with Rough Magic on a new production of Sheridan's A School for Scandal. Directed by Lynne Parker, the production will tour the country as well as playing at the Gaiety in March.
Actor Eamon Kelly was there reminiscing with RTE's Seamus Hosey about a production of The Field which played in Leningrad, 10 years ago this week. Michael Colgan directed Eamon in six of his one-man plays and declared that he learned everything he knows in the process. Michael is also on the committee to organise Dublin's Millennium celebrations: "The best way to celebrate it is a massive party and we're the ones to throw it."