Let's start at the end. To finish his speech at the launch of his book, Bertie Ahern quoted Yeats: "Think where man's glory most begins and ends/And say my glory was I had such friends."
And Thursday night in the Mansion House was all about such friends. Those who stood by him through the tough times. He singled out Senator Eoghan Harris. He gave equally sincere and glowing mentions to Gerry Hickey, Gerry Howlin, Brian Murphy and Richard Aldous.
Bertie got very emotional about Tony Kett, his late friend who passed away about six months ago. Bertie said Tom would be looking down from heaven and thinking of the Guinness flowing here. (Bertie visited my father Peter in hospital before he died a few months ago so he would be looking down with Tom too.)
PJ Mara possibly needed something stronger than Guinness because he wasn't mentioned at all.
EU commissioner Charlie McCreevy launched the book with a rousing speech which could only be an apologia pro vita sua (for those who are not up with the biggest dead language in the world this simply means a defence of Bertie's life) which apparently involved them stopping for ice creams in Donegal one grand evening en route to the government jet.
No ice creams, but it was a grand evening in Dublin 2. Among the hundreds of well-wishers were: Mandy Johnson, Taoiseach Brian Cowen (who was in great form when I said hello), Eoghan Harris's beautiful wife Gwen, the equally beautiful Senator Maria Corrigan, Bertie's accountant Des Peelo, Conor Lenihan (one of the few politicians to have publicly stood up to support the shamefully treated John O'Donoghue). Daughters Cecelia and Georgina (Cecelia stayed the night in the Shelbourne Hotel) were there with their respective partners David and Nicky from Westlife, later joined by Ronan Keating and wife Yvonne.
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Originally Posted by Geoffrey
