Compiled by Nicoline Greer
FISH SUPPER
A good catch is being served up next week on Achill Island. Take seafood from the Atlantic waters and wash it all down with a good helping of trad music sessions in the local pubs. The hotels, restaurants and pubs will be showing off their preparation of the freshest of fish with special menus - there will be a seafood barbecue in the courtyard of the Valley House on Sunday, July 11th and seafood tastings in various venues throughout the week. To work up an appetite, enter the sandcastle competition next Saturday on Keel Beach. And as soon as you say, "Goodbye and thanks for all the fish," the festival of traditional Achill Yawl boats begins on Saturday, July 17th. Achill Seafood Festival starts next Friday, July 9th. See www.achilltourism.com or phone 098-47353 for a full programme of events.
ISLAND VISION
The harsh and beautiful setting of the Blasket Islands is captured in an atmospheric exhibition of oil paintings opening in Kerry tonight. Images of the Blaskets is a vision of rolling islands caught between churning seas and skies through the eyes of Carol Cronin. Before moving to the Blaskets for a summer in 2002, she lived in The Netherlands for 10 years, and her work has been exhibited all over Europe. She had no intention of moving back to Ireland, but once she stepped foot on the Blaskets, she knew she had to stay. Now, she works on the mainland from a 19th-century stone church. Images of the Blaskets opens tonight at 8 p.m. and runs until July 30th at St John's Theatre & Arts Centre, The Square, Listowel, Co Kerry (068-22566).
SHED SOME LIGHT
If ever there was a material well-suited to Ireland, it is bronze, which stays around for hundreds of years. It actually looks better the more weathered it becomes. Applied Lighting in Drogheda supplies German-designed Strassacker outdoor lighting and other bronze and stainless steel outdoor furnishings such as letter boxes and door handles. They usually supply to architects and builders, but anybody can order through the catalogue. The company sells them as "antiques of the future" because of the high quality materials and workmanship. Strassacker garden lights start from € 400 +VAT. Contact Applied Lighting (041-9829434).
SAY CHEESE
Irish cheeses from Burren Gold to Wicklow Blue feature in the new Irish Farmhouse Cheese Recipes book. The pocket-sized book has 77 recipes, using more than 39 varieties of cheese, from the likes of Clodagh McKenna and the Gallic Kitchen's Sarah Webb. It also includes cheesy tips and a list of stockists of Irish cheese in the UK. Here are five things we learnt about cooking with cheese:
1. Be careful not to add too much salt when cooking with cheese - most cheeses are perfectly salted.
2. Grate cheese just before you need it or it will lose its flavour. Cheese grates more easily when cold.
3. Do not apply heat to cheese for too long.
4. Only cook cheese in soup long enough to melt the cheese.
5. Remove cheese from the fridge an hour before cooking or serving. Room temperature brings out the flavour.
Irish Farmhouse Cheese Recipes, by Jane Russell, is available from tourist offices, food stores and book shops countrywide, price €1.
COOKIE MONSTER
Here's a hot tip: get to Café Sol at 11 a.m. or 3 p.m. daily and you'll be in time for "Cookie Time", when batches of chocolate chip and oat and raisin cookies come out of the oven - just in time for a sneaky mid-morning or afternoon tea break with the freshest and gooiest cookies going. You'll find Café Sols on Harcourt Road, Harcourt Street, Earlsfort Terrace, Baggot Street, Clare Street, Dawson Street, Royal Hibernian Way and Baggot Street Lower, with a new store opening on Aston Quay in August and three more in the pipeline for Dublin 2 this year.
RECLAIM THE HOUSE
Now that all that EU presidency carry-on is finished with, we can get Farmleigh back. The public access programme recommences, with music events in July, a garden theme in August, all things foodie in September, and art and design in October. This month the RTÉ Farmleigh Proms (in association with Deloitte) will be performed in the stately surroundings of the house over seven consecutive nights from July 24th to 30th. It will feature the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Big Band, and a range of guest conductors and soloists. Tickets are free and allocated through a supervised lottery system. You can apply by calling 1540-717230 or through the RTÉ Guide. From Northern Ireland, phone 0905-5818204. Closing date for applications is Friday, July 9th. See www.rte.ie and www.farmleigh.ie for more details of other events or phone 01-8155900. Pictured are Ian Dakin, Eckart Schwarz-Schulz and Elaine Clark of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, at Farmleigh.
SING IT LOUD
Though Chinese Opera, with its shrill style, can be alien to Irish ears, the spectacle of colourful costumes and dynamic performance is sure to enthral. The tradition dates back more than 200 years and this autumn, the Peking Opera House of Beijing is making its first trip to Ireland. With thousands of Chinese people now living in Ireland, the Chinese and Irish governments want us to get to know each other through a Cultural Exchange. While we are listening to their opera, Chinese ears will be getting acquainted with our diddly-aye music over there. The Peking Opera House Irish performance will feature highlights from four traditional Chinese Operas: The Crossroads, Qiujiang, Presenting a Pearl on the Rainbow Bridge and Yang Si Lang Calling on his Mother. Bookings now being taken for October 2nd and 3rd. Tickets €15-€30 from the National Concert Hall (01-4170000); online booking: www.nch.ie.
HOT-STEPPIN'
The VHI Dance Blitz next weekend is aiming to get us dancing in the streets. More than 30 classes will be taught by top choreographers from the US and Europe. The Factory Studio in Dublin will stage classes in hip-hop, jazz, latino, and street dance. The classes are suitable for all levels from beginners up. There will also be a performance on Sunday, July 11th, with all of the Dance Blitz instructors shaking their stuff at the Sugar Club. Classes from Friday, July 9th to Sunday, 11th. The price for the entire weekend is €140, or €12 per individual class. For more information on the classes, see www.janeshortall.com or call: 085-1476282.
WORD ON THE STREET!
Meanderthal: And it's always at this time of year: you know how it is, you're in a rushmadpanic to get somewhere and you get caught behind a really annoying person or persons who are moving slowly and aimlessly in front of you (they're usually tourists). It comes from the word "meander". Can be used in the context of: "Sorry I'm late, I got stuck behind a meanderthal on Grafton Street." Brian Boyd