After the exhilarating triumph of last weekend's rugby showdown, it might seem a hard task for this week's French and Irish teams to upstage the sons of Ulster and Colomiers. It's all to play for for the French and Irish squads at Landsdowne this afternoon, but as "events of the week" go, last night's Wild Geese Ball scored as the event which had the most avid, loyal, smartly-dressed fans. The gala dinner, which is held annually on the eve of the French-Irish rugby match in the Five Nations tournament, was attended by more than 500 guests. As always, it was organised by the Ireland Fund of France, and held at the O'Reilly Hall in UCD.
Tony O'Reilly and wife Chryss Goulandris had flown in from London to host the event, and are staying at their Castlemartin home in Co Kildare. Focal point of the evening was the presentation of the Wild Geese Award to the Deputy First Minister of the new Northern Ireland Assembly, Seamus Mallon MP, there with his wife Gertrude. The award, a solid bronze sculpture of a wild goose in flight, on a black limestone base, designed by sculptor Tanya Elliott Nyegaard, is a recognition of achievements which have brought credit to Ireland abroad. Tony O'Reilly presented the award over a dinner of smoked salmon, game consomme, medallions of beef and dessert of winter berry sables. Fellow diners included Gavin O'Reilly and his wife Alison, Tony and Robin O'Reilly, Joseph Davies of Davies Stockbrockers, Liam Healy, chief executive of Independent Newspapers, and the French ambassador to Ireland, Henri de Coignac. Kingsley Aikins, chief executive of the American Ireland Fund flew in especially for the ball. Also invited were Len O'Hagan of Fitzwilton PLC, Suzanne Macdougald of the Soloman Gallery and last year's winner, the distinguished French novelist Michel Deon, who lives in Galway. Not to mention the 1949 Irish rugby team which won the Triple Crown that year. French and Irish music for the evening came from the Trinity Chapel Choir and after-dinner dancing music from the band Avalon.