IT'S hardly surprising, with the miserably wet week that was in it, that so many people got excited about Independence Day yesterday
Some started even earlier with the "Friends Fussball League" on Thursday night, a game styled on the table football so beloved, of those gilded twentysomethings in the TV series Friends. The Irish added a little something different and decided to make the players real people which they strapped onto poles ... Those brave folk who put themselves on the pitch included Republic of Ireland beam player, Stephen Geoghan; RTE's Ray D'Arcy Jim Bartley from Fair City. 2FM's Brenda O'Donoghue; Miss Ireland Niamh Redmond; and Boyzone manager Louis Walsh.
On the day itself, Caroline Downey barndance, which she held for ISPCC in Dublin Castle, was the one to go to. Those attending the hoe-down, which came complete with barbecue, bucking bronco, line-dancers, carts and corrals, included racing drivers Eddie Irvine and Damon Hill and his wife Georgie; Gerry and Morah Ryan; Radius TV's Bill Hughes; Ron Wood; Def Leppard's Joe Elliott and Rick Savage; and actor John Hurt. Music was provided by the ubiquitous Who's Eddie and boy band The Carter Twins.
Around the city, other July 4th jaunts were provided by Nick Koumarianos, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland who hosted lunch in the St George Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire for New York lawyer, Mart, in Murphy, John McNally, president of the Dublin chamber, Michael De Vibraye from BNP in Dublin, and others. Meanwhile Johnny Cooke offered a classic Lady Godiva martini to all women dining in the newest of his restaurants, the Rhino Room on South William Street, in celebration.