Wild Strawberries is a monthly film club for older people at the IFI on Eustace Street, Dublin 2. Anyone over 50 can attend, free of charge, but you must ring to reserve a place (01-6795744), e-mail your booking to wildstrawberries@irishfilm.ie or register online at www.irishfilm.ie Eleanor Fitzsimons
BAR OF BROTHERS
Two brothers, Marc and Conor Bereen, are the owners of South William, a new bar on - funnily enough - South William Street, Dublin 2. It's on the site of what used to be Viva Bar, but the decor is quite different: browns and reds are a backdrop for vintage 1950s furniture, much of it Swedish and all chosen by Conor, who has a background in fine art. The art on the bar's walls will change from time to time: at the moment there are works by a French graffiti artist downstairs and a selection of abstract photography upstairs. The laid-back look is, they say, a mix of ideas inspired by their travels abroad. Before embarking on this new venture, the brothers ran Bia Bar on nearby Stephen's Street. Food is served on both levels of their new bar and consists of a selection of pies conceived by L'Gueuleton chef Troy Maguire. Popular so far are the spicy bean, avocado and cheddar pie and the Guinness beef pie. South William, 52 South William Street, Dublin 2. Tel: 01-6725946. Eoin Lyons
BAG A BARGAIN
If you have a stockpile of handbags gathering dust in your house, maybe it's time for a clearout. And why not earn some money and raise funds for charity while you are at it? Thehandbagexchange.ie is the brainchild of Aisling Corcoran from Ratoath, Co Meath. It's a simple concept: you let her know you have a handbag on offer, and she offers it for sale through the website for a handling fee. Five per cent of the sale value goes to Action Breast Cancer (an Irish Cancer Society project) and you get the rest.
"Lots of people have handbags they don't use - they are unwanted presents, impulse buys, or bags that don't quite go with any of their outfits. And there are people who would love to get their hands on them. The site is about connecting those people and raising money for a good cause," says Corcoran, whose mother died of cancer two years ago.
At the moment Corcoran is collecting as-new or "gently used" bags to sell through the site, which will go live in a few weeks. "I'm doing everything from handbags to man bags, baby bags, laptop bags and shoulder bags," she says. "Each bag has to be in a saleable condition and have a minimum sale value of €20." See www.thehandbagexchange.ie, or call Aisling at 086-8354833. Claire O'Connell
OUT OF YOUR RECYCLED TREE
The bleak streets of the Village area of south Belfast are the unexpected home of an outpost of creative recycling.
Tree - or the Timber Recycling Eco Enterprise - was set up as a non-profit social economy business, designed to bring employment and training opportunities to this run-down part of the city. The first project of its kind in Northern Ireland, Tree collects waste timber from the construction industry and turns it into all kinds of objects, from handmade draughts sets to bird-houses to beechwood babies' rattles. Especially lovely are the wood-turned bowls made from yew and oak. Or why not come up with your own idea? The people at Tree are willing to carve your ideas into reality - one recent commission was a wooden miniature of a wheelie bin for the head of a waste disposal firm. Nothing is wasted - any wood not suitable for a glamorous make-over is turned into particle board or fuel briquettes. For more details, see www.tree-ni.org Fionola Meredith
A MEAL FOR THE MIND
So you've missed Jon Ronson and AL Kennedy, but there's still time to sample a few tasty offerings in the final week of Out To Lunch, Belfast's mini-festival of music, theatre, comedy and literature. Those of us who like our tummies to be as well fed as our minds can't go wrong with this festival, which is now in its second year. For £5, you get lunch and entrance to a show of your choice. Tuck in while listening to the Children of Soweto choir on Wednesday, January 24th, or make it a leisurely lunch with Cheap Date, a showcase of four young acoustic artists, on Saturday, January 27th. Over at the John Hewitt on the 28th (locally famed for its scrummy food), David O'Doherty will be amusing diners with his unique brand of rumpled whimsy. By then, you really will have licked the plate clean. For more details, log on to www.cqaf.com/lunch.html. Fionola Meredith
LOG ON AND BODHRÁN
A few years ago, when Derry man Kevin Kelly got a bodhrán in his Christmas stocking, it ignited a passion that has taken off into cyberspace. Last year, he entered the Guinness Book of Records for organising the largest number of people to play the bodhrán at any one time (1,000, including Brian Cowen, since you ask). Now, he's going into extreme bodhrán-playing, with his team aiming to give lessons under water.
Kelly also runs team-building exercises and calming sessions for stressed-out businesspeople, getting them to bang away until the deal is clinched.
Now he's gone global and is offering computer-based bodhrán lessons. First you buy the CD, which takes you through 50 easy step-by-step lessons. Within four weeks, you will learn fingering, posture, rhythm and how to play a really fast jig. The CD also gives advice on where to buy your bodhrán - Kelly sources his in Northern Ireland, but when he needs a lot, he gets them from China.
"Everyone's got a bit of rhythm in them," he says. "After all, we're all born with a heartbeat." The aim of the CD is, he explains, to get people to listen to the "beat", and anyone playing the bodhrán for dancers will know how important this is.
For the truly dedicated, the next step is to have a one-to-one personal lesson with the man himself. And it matters not if you're in Dublin/New York/Paris or Killybegs. All you need is Skype on your computer and you're away: you at home in front of your workstation with a microphone and a webcam trained on your nimble fingers, and Kelly on the screen, urging you to drumming heights you never dreamed of.
I had my first lesson on Bondi Beach because - now I've given it away - Kelly is based in Sydney, where he lives with his Dublin-born wife and their daughter Kate.
The Live Life on the Edge - Learn the Bodhrán CD costs €22.50. A 45-minute lesson via Skype costs €30, payable with Paypal. More details: www.bodhranworld.com. Mary Russell
ARTY PARTY
It's 100 years old this year, but the United Arts Club is one of Dublin's better kept secrets. There's an old-fashioned feel to the place, as if it's trapped somewhere between 1950 and 1970, but behind the doors of 3 Upper Fitzwilliam Street lie a function room, bar, diningroom and some of the best value bedrooms in the city. It's also affiliated to arts clubs around the world - so if you're a member here, other doors will open to you. The club also runs life-drawing classes, dinners, exhibitions, talks and readings. The club was founded in 1907 by luminaries such as W.B. Yeats, Sarah Purser and Countess Markievicz; but these days who goes, and how do you join? You need to be proposed and seconded by existing members, and as they don't publish lists of them, it does seem to be a case of knowing somebody. "Membership is tight," one club member says, "but as long as you have an interest in the arts we'll consider you." The United Arts Club centenary year kicks off with a ball at the Irish Museum of Modern Art next Thursday, and continues with talks, exhibitions, dinners and even a salon. Information and tickets from club manager Irene Murphy on 01-6611411 or see www.dublinarts.com. Gemma Tipton
ORDER OF THE CLOTH
If you see small beige linen squares fluttering from bushes on the last night of this month, don't worry, it's not some secret signal. But it is a ritual of sorts. Traditionally the brat bhride or Brigid's Cloak, was left outside Irish homes before sunset on the eve of the saint's feast day, February 1st, and retrieved before sunrise. The linen scarf was believed to have been blessed by the saint and to have been imbued with healing power. It was kept in a safe place and brought out when anyone in the house was sick. "It could be wrapped around the head to cure a headache; it was widely used by midwives to assist women in childbirth; and farmers used it on sick animals, especially cows, for which Brigid had a special affinity," says Sara Jane Kingston, who is attempting to revive the tradition. She has had the linen squares, which are embroidered with a St Brigid's cross, made by a company in Northern Ireland, and is selling them for €12, or $15, including postage to anywhere in the world. See www.brigidscloak.com or call 01-8250583. Marie-Claire Digby
LA STAMPA OF AUTHORITY
The chequered history of La Stampa on Dublin's Dawson Street came to a end when the restaurant closed last week, but its remarkable diningroom will be reborn at the end of February. Paul Flynn, chef-proprietor of the Tannery in Dungarvan, Co Waterford and former Irish Timescolumnist, was head chef at La Stampa from 1993 to 1997 and will, in a sense, be returning there to create Balzac, a French brasserie. "I won't be cooking there," he says, "but I've put together the formula, the design, the team. Balzac will be all about simple food, properly done, at keen prices."
The diningroom is being entirely refurbished and simplified. "The vulgarity is going," according to Flynn, who will have complete control over the venture, which is backed by La Stampa's owner, Louis Murray. Murray's heavily publicised 2005 alliance with Jean-Christophe Novelli never delivered the goods, and it is clear that these premises need a new lease of life.
Paul Flynn is adamant that Balzac will work. "This kind of restaurant needs lots of people, lots of bustle, and Dublin can deliver that these days. I won't be cooking there myself; I'll be at the Tannery," he stressed. "It's my concept, my menu, but I'm not going to be in the kitchen." Flynn has appointed Jay Collier from Fitzers as head chef, and he will be joined by Malcolm Sturmer, a Tramore man who has been Richard Corrigan's second-in-command at Lindsay House. Flynn is almost painfully reticent about going public on his involvement in Balzac, stressing that it's all about the food, not about him. If only more chefs would follow his example. Tom Doorley