Seeing Charles J. Haughey arrive to open a new exhibition by Colombian artist, Ricardo Valbuena at the Origin Gallery on Harcourt Street on Wednesday was nothing short of witnessing an Irish cultural phenomenon. As he passed through the masses of first nighters, there was a surge forward not unlike a student riot, or indeed the spontaneous hysteria seen with the arrival of a relic at religious ceremonies. Not hysteria caused by revulsion, you understand. Adoration perhaps, but very little revulsion.
"I want to welcome a man that is one of my heroes," said Noelle Campbell-Sharp, director of the gallery, and was almost drowned out by a chorus of "Hear! Hear!" "And as we grow older, we need heroes," she continued. C.J.H. looked rather offended and gave her a look as if to say "Speak for yourself." The crowd roared. The background music hadn't been turned off and rather fittingly, the rousing sounds of the march from Aida heralded the speech of the man himself. With the music gone, Haughey made an unusually uncontroversial speech, simply praising Valbuena's work and the Cill Rialaig artists' retreat. Later he said that he particularly enjoyed the paintings: "The subjects are two that are very dear to me: the sea and horses. Of course I'm grounded from both at the moment." Haughey, who is still recuperating after a broken leg, said he was determined to be back in the saddle in a month. We presume he meant the equestrian rather than the political kind.
The invitation to open the exhibition came about after Campbell-Sharp contacted the former taoiseach to see whether the jockey Richard Dunwoody, who rides for Haughey, would be available to open the exhibition. Dunwoody, it turned out, was willing but not available, and Haughey himself agreed to do the launch. "Do you know, I never even dreamed of asking him first, because I didn't think he'd do it," she laughed.
Valbuena himself looked rather bemused by all the attention given to this retired politician but very pleased by the turnout of guests and press. He and his wife Julie Valbuena are predominantly based in the US now, though Ricardo originally trained with the renowned Colombian artist David Manzur in his home town, Bogota.
Another man looking pleased by the large number of guests was Peter Bark, the man behind coffee company Caffe Fresca and the sponsor of the exhibition. Bark, from England (by way of Lebanon and Russia) was originally introduced to Ireland by his partner, May Frisby of Pasta Fresca. Fuelled by his inability to get a cup of coffee to his liking in Ireland, Bark threw in his job as a commodities broker and set up his coffee business.
He now has a rather impressive list of commissions under his belt including a personal request from Bill Clinton to bring his coffee to Ballybunion for that "informal" golf game earlier this year and providing coffee for both Sheikh Hamden and Sheikh Mohammed on their visit to Ireland. Who knows whether it was the art, the Irish coffees or the presence of Charles Haughey that attracted them, but there was any number of excited guests there on Wednesday night.
Other guests included Cyril and Monika Murray; Carmel Naughton, chairwoman of the National Gallery; designer Jen Kelly; jewellery designer Denise Downey, who must have spotted a number of her own creations on the guests; and artist Michelle Sweetman, who is expecting her first child in January. While all the hubbub continued downstairs, Haughey retired, rather fittingly, to the Napoleon library upstairs.