CHEERS! The grand return of… the champagne-fuelled charity lunch
Here at SHEmazing, we did a double-take and twice checked the calendar when we saw snaps from the recent Etihad Airways charity lunch and fashion show.
Taking place last Friday in the salubrious surroundings of the five-star Westin Hotel on College Green, it was held in aid of the wholly worthy Rape Crisis Centre.
But while the location and the charity were certainly headline acts, what also definitely caught our eye were the added extras: oodles of tousled blonde tresses, deep Marbella tans, a five-course feed, and generous glasses of champagne… not to mention a guest-list that had the glory-days of 2006 written all over it.
For one, Miss Ireland 1991 Amanda Brunker was present-and-correct, acting as host for the afternoon's proceedings.
That's not all, however. Yes, before you could cry "120 percent mortgage approval," we spotted the glamorous likes of Miriam Ahern, Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh, and Lisa Duffy – in addition to Lorraine Keane, Roz Flanagan, Joan Palmer, and Lisa Murphy.
And let's not forget the Celtic Tiger-worthy raffle prize up for grabs: one lucky winner scooped a 5-star €5,000 prize composed of return flights for two people to Abu Dhabi with Etihad Airways complete with a suite at the luxurious Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri. VIP table at Renards not included, sadly.
Impressively, and having weathered the ups and downs of the Irish economy, the lunch is now in its 21st year, raising in excess of an impressive €2.5m over the years.