Three-card-trick men, tipsters and taoisigh, both current and former, descend on Galway city this week for the annual summer racing festival at Ballybrit. Lorna Siggins, in Galway, reports.
The seven-day meeting, which will be opened by television personality Hector Ó hEochagáin tonight, will bring over €60 million into the Galway economy, according to Ireland West Tourism.
Just how much it will bring into Fianna Fáil coffers is anyone's guess, with 10-seat tables at the party's tent costing about €2,750. Although Galway Race Week is one of the highlights of the Fianna Fáil fundraising calendar, the net income is usually "totally disproportionate to the press coverage and the grief that we get from it", one party source commented at the weekend.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, is expected to attend early in the week, while other Cabinet members who may turn up should include Ireland's nominee for the EU Commission, the Minister for Finance and racing aficionado, Mr McCreevy; the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue; the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen; the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Coughlan; and west-coast-based Ministers of State Dr Jim McDaid and Mr Frank Fahey - both of whom will be hoping for some sort of elevation in the autumn.
Ballybrit does not have the status of a Dáil committee - ministers are not "assigned" there, the party says - for it is far too serious an occasion.
Solid socialising is combined with a concentrated study of form. The tote jackpot rises from €50,000 to €70,000 on Wednesday, for the Hewlett Packard Galway Plate, and on Thursday for the Guinness Galway Handicap Hurdle and Ladies Day.
This year, a "mad hatter day" takes place on Sunday, the last day of the event.
Jockeys confirmed include Tony McCoy and Timmy Murphy, and the total prize fund for the week is €1.7 million. Some 1,500 people will be working, rather than socialising, and among the support cast are the pilots of some 50 helicopters licensed by Galway Race Committee to fly punters to and from the race course.
Flights at around €225 per person return constitute one of the most expensive air trips per mile this week but there is no shortage of bookings. Some visitors may never make it to Ballybrit at all, however.
Late night poker in select city centre venues is one of the features of Galway Race Week, with private rooms being booked to ensure there is no contravention of gaming laws.
The N6 Dublin-Galway road will be subject to traffic disruption from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. today when anti-landfill protesters stage a rally and "slow drive" from Aughrim to Cappataggle Cross. The protest is being organised by the Kilconnell anti-dump group.