Tigers and dragons at M&S fash bash

THE SOCIAL NETWORK: 'The Child of Prague must have been out on Grafton Street for Marks & Spencer's autumn-winter 2012 fashion show on Tuesday. It was a beautiful evening, too beautiful for Carmel Breheny, marketing manager at M&S.

“Sorry about the weather not being as wintry as we’d like,” she said. She added that hail and rain would have added some emphasis to the range of winter clothes on view.

There was no sign of Twiggy, but who needs her when Olivia Tracey is around? The former Miss Ireland stole the show with her natural grey tresses.

The stylist Lisa Fitzpatrick added a touch of glamour. She turned 40 a few weeks ago and kicked off the celebrations with a family barbecue in her garden.

“Then I went on a date with my husband – we went to lunch in Town Bar Grill and stayed the night in Killiney Castle, my sister-in-law’s hotel.”

Judging by the collections, tiger print is one of the key trends. The cat certainly got Lorraine Keane’s tongue; the normally loquacious presenter has “something big” coming down the line in the UK but is precluded from talking about it at the moment.

Norah Casey had to leave early, as she now rises at 4.15am to present her breakfast show on Newstalk. Apparently she receives lots of letters and emails from people who watch her on Dragons’ Den and holds a business clinic twice a month free of charge. She tells me she has no desire to enter politics. “I’m far too opinionated,” she said.

Before fleeing to an early bed, the dragon mentioned that she worked with

Ken Livingstone in London and admires what Mary Harney did at Enterprise, and also admires Mary Lou McDonald and Joan Burton.

Alan Hughes said that Niall Sheehy would play the prince in this year’s Cheerios Panto, Snow White and the Adventures of Sammy Sausages, at The Tivoli Theatre. Sheehy was one of the participants in the ITV reality competition Superstar, which sought to fill the lead role in the hit play Jesus Christ Superstar.

Nadia Forde will also star in this year’s panto. “She is an amazing singer,” said Hughes. “She auditioned for a role last year but didn’t get the part.”

The TV presenter Darren Kennedy told me that he’s looking forward to the screening of Gay Daddy, which is part of the Reality Bites documentaries on RTÉ Two next Tuesday.

“I got great feedback from my appearance on Saturday Night with Miriam . . . or else I just didn’t hear what they were saying.”

Who we spotted:Celia Holman Lee; Emily O'Donnell

What we drank:Prosecco

What we ate:M&S finger food