The Irish Cancer Society's Daffodil Day has become something of an institution, with supporters in all the best places. Never was this so obvious as at Thursday's coffee morning to announce details of this year's campaign when all sorts of people arrived at the Tea Room with daffodil arrangements in the most diverse of containers. Senator David Norris, MC for the morning, charmed the proverbial pants off everybody as he described the various arrangements dotted around the room. Mary Banotti had floated her daffodils in a large bowl that was brought back from Jerusalem by her daughter, Tanya, as a good luck present at the start of the Presidential elections.
At the table next to her were seated novelist Deirdre Purcell, senator Feargal Quinn and TV presenterturned-barrister, Cynthia Ni Mhurchu. Deirdre's arrangement featured "Auntie's String Bag" - not the title of her next book but an actual string bag belonging to a favourite aunt. Fergal Quinn's daffodils were splendidly arranged in - what else - a shopping trolley, while Cynthia's flowers rested in the spine of a weighty law tome, and was entitled The Irish Constitution.
Across the way, architect Sam Stephenson hosted a table that included his wife Caroline Stephenson, who is herself busy with next week's UNICEF Mother's Day lunch; actress Jeananne Crowley, and Timothy MacDermot-Roe of Moylurg Antiques in Castletownshend. Timothy is just back from a buying expedition for his newly-established Indian Pavilion and by coincidence, Sam Stephenson's arrangement also had an Indian theme: a large vase acquired on a trip to Goa.
Eileen Murphy, long a supporter of the Irish Cancer Society, brought her daffodils in a rolled up piece of Chopin sheet-music. She said she was once able to play the difficult piece, the Revolutionary Study, and David Norris quickly extracted a promise from her to teach him the study. She entertained Norma Smurfit and Dot Tubridy at her table. Meanwhile, Lorraine Keane of AA Roadwatch was attracting a lot of attention with her large tyre-full of daffs representing her interest in all things motoring.E's new car programme.
Temple Bar Properties' Laura Magahy's arrangement was also a popular one - she decorated an easel with bunches of flowers. Laura is heading Stateside next week as the New York Architecture Conference is concentrating on Temple Bar this year. Other glamorous and inventive arrangements included one by Vanessa Slowey of Butler's Irish Chocolates using a vase encrusted with white and dark chocolates. Designer Richard Lewis bucked the trend with a delicate watercolour painting of a "daffodil lady", and the 2FM gang, led by Ian Dempsey, made an impromptu arrangement out of a 2FM poster.
However, the biggest round of applause was earned by Claire O'Reilly, general manager of the Clarence Hotel with her daffodils au naturel - a clump of the yellow flowers in a sod of earth. But perhaps the applause was as much for the hotel's generosity in hosting the event for the Cancer Society and starting the ball rolling on the Restaurants for Daffodil Day campaign. This means Ireland's major hotels and restaurants will help the fund-raising by donating money in return for flowers for their premises on March 20th.