JUST about everybody at the Savoy on Wednesday night for the premiere of The Van was the wrong side of 20 - otherwise there would have been an outbreak of shrieking and frantic autograph hunting. The big stars in the audience were the Spice Girls, who, in case you don't have a pre teen lurking around the house, are a chart topping English girl band - a sort of Girlzone - who are simply huge with the My Little Pony set. They were interviewed in the foyer afterwards by a crew from TnaG who wisely didn't insist the five girls hazard the cupla focal.
Bimbo's mobile chippy was parked in front of the Savoy on O'Connell Street which set the mood for the evening, and the film brought us all back to these heady days of Italia 90, when we were all football mad and it seemed somehow OK for grown ups to paint their faces green, white and orange.
The party after the premiere was a great success, mostly because it was so informal - there wasn't a black tie in sight - the supper was, appropriately enough, burgers and chips. The Spice Girls didn't hang around. All the homegrown stars of the movie partied into the night including the brilliant Donal O'Kelly, comedian Brendan O'Carroll, Ger Ryan and Caroline Rothwell.
Arthur Mathews, writer of Father Ted, stayed late despite an early start to Clare on Thursday to film the show's Christmas, special. Tomorrow he's jetting off to New York for five days for the Emmy awards.
