The senator, the councillor and the TD are looking across at the Lord Mayor in disbelief. It is a tiny moment in time at Chief O'Neills Hotel in Smithfield. "She never mentioned us," they say, looking daggers - mar dhea - at the woman in the gold chain - Councillor Mary Freehill.
The three men - Tony Gregory TD, Senator Joe Costello and Councillor Eric Byrne - are crestfallen. "We're her colleagues and we're standing in front of her," they grin. Other politicians not singled out for mention at the packed reception to launch the 2000 Guinness Living Dublin Awards, are councillors Eamonn O'Brien, Dermot Lacey and John Gallagher. There are various members of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, the Guinness Ireland Group and the Devey Group in evidence also. Gerry Fagan, of the Devey Group, which developed the 2.5 acre Smithfield Village site, says they were "quite surprised" to win the overall prize last year.
Charlie Lennon, general secretary of the ASTI, is taking a break from the pay talk pressures. His look says "no comment". He's chairman of the awards' schools' panel.
The only man in a priest's collar and black suit is Canon David Pierpoint, who watches over three Church of Ireland parishes in Dublin - here with his wife Denise Pierpoint.
A Flamenco dancer from Philadelphia, Anne O'Malley-Castellanos, sits beside music teacher Orla Casey. They don't plan to perform tonight but their music and dance project at St Paul's Special School in Beaumont, Dublin, won one of the awards last year.