The night was balmy as the giant Macnas insects stalked the cobblestones of Dublin Castle. Delegates attending the gala dinner of the Worldwide Ireland Funds Conference 2003 were all smiles when they arrived to party the night away.
Playwright Marina Carr and her husband, Dermot Hickey, attended, as Carr received this year's American Ireland Fund Literary Award with a bursary of $25,000.
The award will allow Carr "to take stock, to pause. I think sooner or later every writer pauses. In Hamlet, he says to Horatio, 'What it is to leave betimes, let be'. I can't get it out of my head. I'm just stopping", said the writer, who grew up in Pallas Lake, Co Offaly.
Kieran McLoughlin, director in Ireland of the Ireland Funds, stood beside Kingsley Aikins, president and chief executive officer of the Ireland Funds, which has its headquarters in Boston, as the two welcomed the delegates from 11 countries. The US, which donated $10 million to the charity last year, had the biggest representation, including 100 Texans. Among them was President George Bush's niece, Ashley Bush (14) who was there with her mother, Sharon Bush. Ted Murphy, of the International Museum of Wine in Kinsale, was among them chatting to Margaret Larsen, president of Special Olympics in Texas.
Chairwoman of the American Ireland Fund, Loretta Brennan Glucksman and Senator Maurice Hayes, chairman of the Ireland Funds, both spoke of the organisation's work in supporting a wide range of projects around the country. The aim always is "to promote peace, culture, community development and education across the island of Ireland", said Hayes.