Dancing partnersOrganised by Blue Raincoat Theatre Company, Cairdeis a week-long festival that integrates performances by able-bodied and disabled actors and dancers with world-music performances, cabaret events, workshops, family shows and exhibitions. Running from today until next Saturday, it features Amici Dance Theatre, from the UK, the cabaret artist Taylor Mac, from the US, the Congolese group Kasai Masai and the African guitarist Niwel Tsumbu. 071-9170431, www.blueraincoat.com. Michael Kelly
No messing
If you've never mastered the art of meringue-making or if, like me, your pavlova is more swansong than Swan Lake, an Eton messis your only man. Mash up strawberries with a little sugar, stir them into some whipped double cream and fold in broken pieces of meringue. Fly to heaven on angel wings. We had this for the first time recently at Ely Wine Bar, in Dublin, where it was duly called an Ely mess. It was a revelation. No need to shed tears over stiffly beaten egg whites again. This is a great way to eat strawberries while watching Wimbledon (with a drop of rum in the cream or crumbled toasted hazelnuts on top as optional extras). Patsey Murphy
One for the road
'Allo, 'allo, vot iz diz? All those 1970s comedy sketches - and earnest French films with the likes of Alain Delon - spring to mind when you hear about a novel marketing scheme by the wine distributor Febvre. It has turned two vintage Citroën H vans into travelling wine barsnamed Hortense and Matilde. The vans will be used at music festivals and race meetings, and they can be hired for private functions, such as birthdays, barbecues and weddings. Gregory Aiken, Febvre's marketing director, got the idea while on holiday near Narbonne, in southwestern France. "There were about 40 Citroën vans stored in a field on the side of the road as we drove through Gruissan. They caught my eye, and I made contact with the owner on my return." Aiken's colleague Kerri Judge oversaw their transformation. They make a change from the nightly jingle of the local ice-cream van. Bookings and further details on 01-2161400. Joe Breen
Get inspired
Survey, the latest show from the Lewis Glucksman Gallery, is a very good reason, if you don't live there already, to go to Cork. Gerhard Richteris one of the world's greatest (and most expensive) living painters, which in our hype-driven age is saying a lot. Whether it is his uncannily real-yet-unreal photo paintings, his eerily blurred series of Baader-Meinhof works or his abstract canvases that explore what it is to be a painter, Richter's works compel, inspire and stay with you long after you leave the gallery. Twenty-seven works are on show in this exhibition. "Once obsessed, one ultimately carries it to the point of believing that one might change human beings through painting," the artist has said. See if it's true from next Friday until October 7th. www.glucksman.org. Gemma Tipton
Catch that wave
The name may be an ironic in-joke among Co Donegal's winter wave warriors, who spend half the year freezing their extremities off, but the Warm Water Classic is serious business. Many of Ireland's best surfers will be heading to Bundoran this morning to take each other on at the annual surfing, skating and music festival. The weekend's highlight is today's Retro Surf Contest, featuring a range of historic boards. Among them is the stick used by the Australian Joel Fitzgerald to charge huge waves near Bundoran in Litmus, the cult 1999 film that put Ireland on the surfing map. This evening's Expression Session will give surfers of all standards the chance to cut loose and shred. Other events include a paddle race and an under-18s contest. With any luck, Mother Nature will do her thing and Bundoran will show why it's among Europe's top surf destinations. Further details at www.bundoransurfco.com. Kilian Doyle
UCD history in a bottle
University College Dublin graduates with a taste for their alma mater's history might savour this bargain from Mitchell & Son, the wine merchant on Kildare Street, D2, and in Glasthule, Co Dublin. It has a limited supply of Galeo, a white Graves blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon from 2003, bottled for the college's 150th anniversary in 2004 by Domaine Sichel, in Bordeaux, for €8.95, down from €14.50. The front label includes the UCD 150 logo; the back label briefly explains the foundation of the college by Cardinal John Henry Newman. Peter Dunne of Mitchell's says that, well chilled, the wine's soft lemon character would suit "many who tire of the crisp-tart acidity which seems all the rage at the moment". Very apt: we all know there's nothing bitter about UCD graduates. Mitchell & Son is at 01-6760766. Joe Breen
Hot on the Shannon
The idea of "the sweat houses of Leitrim" might make it sound as if the county has descended into debauchery, but sweat houses are actually historic saunas. Dating from the 1700s, they are found almost exclusively in north Co Leitrim and west Co Cavan. Said to cure pretty much all that ails you, they are now mostly overgrown and all but forgotten. This summer the artist Gareth Kennedy is creating his own sweat house on the Shannon, this time as a semi-transparent cube that will float on the river throughout July and August. Sit in it and gently sweat out your stress before plunging into the river for an invigorating dip - all in the name of art. Kennedy says the project is connected to ideas of the environment, climate and landscape change. It's part of a trio of projects, under the title Landscape 07, that includes exhibitions by Peter Brook and Cora Cummins. All are at the Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon. www.thedock.ie. Gemma Tipton
Fairview fixture
Sgt Pepper is on the stereo, butterfly cakes are on the shelves and the smell of home-made shepherd's pie is wafting from the kitchen. Recently opened on Fairview Strand, in Dublin 3, Kennedy's Food Storeis creating a buzz among gastronome northsiders who've been hoping the place would remain a secret for as long as possible (oops). Living locally, catering queen Sarah Kennedy spotted a gap in the market and decided a cosy deli-cum- bistro was just what the area needed. "I wanted people to have a place to go on those evenings when they didn't feel like cooking - but somewhere that wasn't going to be a rip-off," she says. No surprise that Kennedy's evening special is a steal. For €10 you get a substantial home-cooked dinner just like your ma used to make - if your ma had the culinary skills of someone like Nigella Lawson, that is - and a glass of wine. There's also a wide variety of cheeses, meats, fresh baguettes and sweet treats, such as melt-in-the-mouth muffins. Kennedy's can cater for gatherings at home, too, in case you want to pretend to friends you know your way around a Victoria sponge. Fairview is now officially foodie heaven. Just don't tell anyone, right? Kennedy's Food Store, 01-8331400. Róisín Ingle
Gmme some truth
Instant Karmais a great double whammy: a novel collection of John Lennon songs rendered by a motley crew of great musicians and, at the same time, a smart way to raise funds and awareness for Amnesty International's campaign in Darfur. All 38 tracks are already available through the iTunes music store - www.apple.com/itunes - with 98 per cent of proceeds going to Amnesty International; 23 of them are available on a double CD that's in the shops. Also, have a look at Amnesty's petition about Sudan at www.amnesty.org/noise Patsey Murphy
Postcards from Dublin
Hugh Doran spent his life working for Arthur Guinness but travelled the world to indulge his love of photography, and his work has been shown at exhibitions in Berlin, Bordeaux, Bermuda and Vienna. In 1959 Desmond Guinness asked him to photograph country houses for an Irish Georgian Society exhibition. Besides architecture, another favourite theme was his home town. Doran's Dublin photographsreveal the personality of the city as much as its buildings. The Irish Architectural Archive is showing his work in an exhibition called Hugh Doran: Photographer, which runs until October 7th. A companion book is available from the archive at €15. Clare McCarthy