They're excira and delira and dressed to kill. Some may even be wearing after-shave. (It's an all-male bunch.) They've donned suits, ties and polished black shoes in honour of the occasion. On Monday night, The Irish Times photographers are minus their heavy cameras and water-proof gear. Paddy Whelan in a dark suit looks particularly dashing.
They've all gathered for the opening of Exposure99 at the National Photographic Archive in Temple Bar where their images from the past year are on view. "It's nice," says Frank Miller looking about him. "It's always interesting to see it without the words. It's a different way of seeing the photograph." His brother, Niall O Muilleoir, press officer with Fine Gael, his (Niall's) wife, Marian, and their mother, Mrs Berney Miller, are also here. What do you need to be a good photographer? The most important thing is patience, says Cyril Byrne, who has "never wanted to do anything else". Bryan O'Brien says it's "much more important to have thermal underwear". It's reassuring to know photographers are always protected from the cold.
As to the images: "It's wonderful to see them on the wall for a change. In the newspaper they can end up in the bin after a day or two," he says.
Paul Hayden, (another immaculately-suited individual), from the electronic picture desk has been in the business for 22 years. Tonight he's waiting patiently for his wife, Margaret, who is "the most unpunctual woman on the planet," he says, not looking a bit cross. Donal Byrne, an editor with RTE's Morning Ireland and News at One, says it's "really refreshing to see them again" - the pictures, he means. And all the while there are 300,000 pictures stored and shelved in the basement of the National Photographic Archive under the care of Grainne Mac Lochlainn, curator of the archive.
But the author, director, broadcaster, scientist, conductor, doctor and all-round gifted person, Jonathan Miller, is here to launch Exposure99. Before the speeches, he takes a look at the work exploring the Irish Weltanschauung as seen by the photo-journalists. The images are very striking, he says. Although not familiar with every individual in the news pictures, there are some personalities "like Haughey, that one knows - the news leaks out". Miller is in Dublin to direct As You Like It at the Gate Theatre, which opens next month.
To what does he attribute his own genius? "I'm not certain that I have it," he says modestly, moving away towards the cloakroom. We follow, hot on his heels. "It's one of those things that the press attributes to one. I'm just interested in a lot of things." Ah, sure, all the geniuses say that.