The midday flight from Dublin to Paris, Charles de Gaulle, began to look like the World Cup Express. It seemed half the business folk in the city were packed on a flight that can only have been taking them to the semi-final in Stade de France - or perhaps to a very timely business meeting. (In fact, the departures lounge on Wednesday was probably a rather good place to have a business meeting). Johnny Ronan of Treasury Holdings was there and seated in the next row was Gerry Purcell, son of meat baron Seamus Purcell - a man often seen at high-profile race meetings. Further down the aisle was Paddy Wright of Smurfits. Eddie Cox, commercial manager the FAI, was busy fielding questions, although he seemed more preoccupied with the up-coming Under-18s European Championships in Cyprus than with the World Cup match. Another sporting man was Tim O'Connor, head of sport in RTE, who is vice-president of the European Broadcasting Union.
In France, the atmosphere was tense but electric and the partying started even before the French team grabbed the 2-1 victory that will take them to the final. After the match there was a huge number of speciallybuilt "party cities" to choose from. Nike created its own park in La Defense, while Budweiser commandeered a huge warehouse and turned it into Stade de Bud. Here everyone was ploughing into the hot dogs, eyeing up the mademoiselles in very skimpy dresses - made to look like cans of beer - ("Perfection, my two favourite zings at once," one guest exclaimed), and playing a bit of footie themselves.
There was a large human tablefootball game, in which brave party animals were strapped onto long poles and shuttled around the board. A team from British lads' magazine Loaded predictably enjoyed this immensely.
Later, the party continued on the streets of Paris. The whole Champs Elysees was closed to cars, while the normally frantic Place de la Concorde slowed to a trickle. There was dancing in fountains, dancing on cars and dancing in the bars, and by the end of the night almost everyone was playing football. What's a party without football?