The President, Mrs McAleese and her husband Martin invited Cabinet members and their partners for dinner in the Aras on Tuesday evening. They were last there en masse in July, when former President, Mary Robinson gave a welcome and farewell dinner which ended in a very jolly singsong. On this occasion entertainment after dinner (salmon provided the main course) was provided by the traditional group Na Casadaigh. Missing was Charlie McCreevy, and David Andrews who was at the London talks. Greatly missed too was Annette Andrews, a concert class pianist who has accompanied many of her husband's colleagues when they sang on previous occasions.
The Cabinet, including the attorney general, David Byrne, was joined by the President's secretary Brian McCarthy, assistant secretary Colm Butler, the secretary to the Government, Frank Murray, the secretary to the Department of the Taoiseach, Paddy Teahon, and the President's press adviser, Eileen Gleeson.