Startled initially, Davy made a quick recovery.

‘Edward, how’s it going, boy? I’d forgotten you worked here. I wouldn’t have known you in the outfit anyway. In all fairness, you look like a reject from the Opera House panto. Buttons, is that his name?’

They laughed.

‘And who’s this lovely lady?’ Edward said.

Davy introduced me as his friend Finn and Edward introduced himself as Edward ‘Call me Ned’ Foley, concierge of this fine hotel for more years than he cared to remember.

‘Would you like to join us, Ned?’ I asked. ‘It’s my first time here for afternoon tea, and only my third time ever. I’d love to hear more about the hotel. Is it okay to have a look around, do you think?’

‘I can’t join you, I’m afraid,’ Ned said. ‘The curse of the day job. But if you call by the concierge desk on your way out, I’ll be only delighted to give you a tour and to tell you what little I can about the place.’

‘Hey, what’s the story with you and Ned?’ I asked after he’d left.

‘Sorry, can’t say,’ Davy said.

‘Now who’s gone all secretive?’

What I didn’t say was that I liked the man of mystery act he was putting on; liked it a lot. I leant across the table towards him and whispered, ‘It’s from NA, I’ll bet. That’s how you know him.’

I knew that members weren’t supposed to tell who else went to meetings.

‘Come off it, Buttons in NA? Hardly,’ Davy said.

‘AA so. That’s it, isn’t it?’

‘I never said it, okay, so you can stop right there. But he’s a good guy, believe me. Though I can see you have every intention of bleeding him dry for information, whatever you’re up to.’

‘Don’t worry,’ I said, calling for the bill. ‘I’ll be the soul of discretion.’

Not as discreet as Ned. For all his apparent friendliness, he was giving nothing away. He showed us the ballroom, and the bar, and gestured dramatically up the stairs in the direction of the bedrooms, and the various suites named after the ancient clans of Munster, the O’Briens, the McCarthys and the O’Sullivans and so on. I could have learnt as much, or more, from the hotel website. And when I mentioned Jeremy Gill arriving on Tuesday, dropping in that I was a Film Festival board member, I got an arctic reception.

‘Oh, Finn, we never talk about our guests,’ Ned said as he ushered us into the bar for a complimentary drink. I ordered a grapefruit juice and Davy a still water. At least I’d be able to check what kind of coasters the hotel used.

But there weren’t any.

‘You don’t use coasters any more,’ I said.