TAURUS may be the dominant star sign among Dail deputies, but none of their party leaders has the good fortune to be a rat. In fact, Leinster House is a bit thin on rodents who could - if circumstances were different - be celebrating their special new year.
Generous, warm, industrious and economical are the main attributes of those born within this phase of the Chinese lunar calendar - such as the Green Party TD, Mr Trevor Sargent, Pope John Paul, and the Sinn Fein leader, Mr Gerry Adams. The Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, had his run recently, for he is born under the Chinese sign of the boar.
The Tanaiste, Mr Spring, is a tiger, like Groucho Marx, while the Minister for Social Welfare, Mr De Rossa, shares the dragon with Che Guevara. Last night in Dublin, it was everybody's "birthday" as the Irish Chinese community ate dried oysters, steamed fish and roast suckling pig.
A good "Cantonese night" was how Mr Howard Pan, chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, forecast it, as he looked forward to the dragon and unicorn dances in the Imperial restaurant in Dublin's Wicklow Street. About 180 guests were expected, with similar celebrations planned in Limerick and among the Vietnamese community north of the Liffey.
Like most of Ireland's 10,000 strong Chinese community, Mr Pau actually comes from Hong Kong. Very few are from mainland China, he says. The son of a Cantonese army officer who fled when Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949, he emigrated to Britain at the age of 17 and moved here in 1983 to open the Asia Market in Drury Street.
This week, his financial director has gone east to celebrate the festival, and most people will take up to five days' holidays at home. Red packets containing "luck money" will be given to children - including those relatives who may still be single.
One Chinese national who has little scope for celebrating is an asylum seeker who has been in Ireland for the past five years. Unable to be identified, the refugee was involved in pro democracy activities in China in 1989.
Yesterday, Amnesty International also marked the Tibetan new year, 2123 - the year of the fire mouse - and recalled the many victims of oppression in both China and the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
Despite the fact that China is party to seven UN human rights treaties, violations of fundamental rights remain "endemic" in the country, the organisation says. It has formulated a series of recommendations to the UN Commission on Human Rights, including ensuring that asylum seekers are not forcibly returned.
