Recently the President of Ireland visited the United Arab Emirates. The Irish community of the UAE were invited to a reception at the lavish Emirates Palace Hotel in the national capital Abu Dhabi. The reception boasted good food and free flowing beverages. A group of UAE based Irish musicians entertained the gathered Gaels. Unlike Irish public houses, the reception room at the hotel allowed guests to smoke and provided high quality ashtrays. The atmosphere was excellent with that amazing Irish capacity to combine formality with an air of relaxed cordiality and familiarity that I term "Celtic protocol". The President delivered an impressive "Celtic protocol" speech. The gathering was delighted to hear of the plans to open an Irish embassy in Abu Dhabi. In these increasingly difficult times I felt the event had an air of a rapidly fading former reality. The affluent and optimistic feel of the reception- with the Irish ex-pat community celebrating a close relationship between two small economically dynamic nations seems archaic and nostalgic already. Even as we all stood there listening to the speech, the cold winds of the quickly unravelling world economic and financial system could be felt blowing round our well heeled feet!
