Pressing deadline

Caviston's, the lunchtime restaurant and popular deli in Sandycove, opened for a rare evening performance on Monday for the launch…

Caviston's, the lunchtime restaurant and popular deli in Sandycove, opened for a rare evening performance on Monday for the launch of X2, a monthly magazine co-produced by former Irish Press executives Niall Connolly and Catherine Griffin.

Niall's wife Kathleen Connolly manages the restaurant for Peter Caviston and she said she was delighted to see him doing all the work for a change. The publicity was also well catered for, thanks to the services of former Sunday Press editor, Michael Keane, now a PR executive with Fleishman, Hillard, Saunders. Keane spent much of the evening sharing reminiscences with former Irish Press editor, Hugh Lambert, and former Evening Press editor, Sean Ward.

X2 comprises a mix of short feature articles, trivia, crosswords and numerous word games, an easy-reading formula that has proved a big seller elsewhere. Catherine Griffin said the venture had involved a "very fast learning curve". Connolly was more blunt: a "hair-raising, white-knuckle experience" was how he described it.

Catherine Griffin's niece Ruth Griffin was there with rugby international Denis Hickie, who came straight from a training session with his club, St Mary's, looking remarkably unblemished by last Saturday's bruising encounter.