The hand of history is upon us on Monday night at the launch of Medieval Dublin I, a book based on an archaeological conference held last year. The Taoiseach breezes in to Dublin Corporation offices at Wood Quay with his minders and delivers a speech to the gathered - consisting of seasoned academics, scruffy students and even scruffier archaeologists. Ahern sounds as though he has actually read the book - and a quick peek at his copy reveals that he even has some parts marked off. "I would read anything to do with Dublin," he says leafing through illustrations that even author and Trinity College lecturer, Sean Duffy admits to having difficulty in decyphering.
Emma Strugnell, Nigel Patrick, Kirsty Dingwall and Emily Sullivan are among the student body gathered to avail of the free wine and to try to coax some humanity from Duffy who is currently marking their theses.
Those revolutionary times of yesteryear, however, are fresh in the memory of historian Christine Meek and Peter Harbison, a self-confessed armchair archaeologist who would rather "sit back and watch everyone else work". Praise throughout the speeches is lavished on city archaeologist Daire O'Rourke, who is described as an "absolute gem" in her efforts. Archaeology is invaluable for presenting a picture of old Dublin, she says, but it "can be very messy and complicated".