There's no beating an Irish all-in family holiday if you want the children to be entertained while you let your hair down, writes Róisín Ingle

'It's like going on a cruise ship," says Pat Rigney, describing his perfect Irish holiday. "Once you get on board it's all there for you and you don't have to worry about a thing."

For the past five years the Rigneys have decamped to Kelly's Resort Hotel in Rosslare, Co Wexford, for their annual holiday. And although a hotel full of excited children may not be everyone's idea of a relaxing break, for thousands of Irish people this kind of all-in family package, where everything from entertainment to meals to sporting activities is laid on, represents holiday heaven.

People like Rigney - the founder of Boru vodka - his wife, Denise, and their four children book the following year's holiday the day they pack up to return home. "In terms of a family holiday it has everything, with the added bonus that it is only a two-hour drive away from Dublin. There is so much to do for the children, and you meet a huge variety of people who are interested in family activities and a particular kind of holiday."

Just listening to the range of activities on offer at the best-equipped family-friendly hotels is enough to wear you out. The day might start with swimming or tennis lessons or building sandcastles on the beach. Most resorts offer supervised playground and crèche facilities for younger children, and on rainy days they can watch videos in the playroom with their parents. The afternoons are filled with arts and crafts, music or dancing, with high tea - Rice Krispie cakes and milk, say - served around 4 p.m.

Then, while Mum and Dad are on the golf course or taking a walk, it's time for volleyball, table tennis, badminton or even a table quiz before a buffet-style dinner, featuring everything from spaghetti Bolognese to cheese on toast with, at Kelly's at least, an ice-cream machine wheeled in to make unlimited amounts of dessert. At night there might be a disco or other entertainment before parents come to pick up their weary children at 10 p. m.

Richard and Kathy Ibbetson, who are Edinburgh-based dentists, say summer wouldn't be summer without the annual visit to their family-friendly hotel. "The children are the main driving force behind us coming back year after year. They love the range of activities and have made good friends with people who come the same week," says Kathy, who comes from Belfast. When she started coming their eldest child was a baby, and she was impressed by the facilities, which include a baby room where she could heat milk or food. "You were never made to feel the crying baby was a pain. The staff were so helpful; it wasn't an effort to do something like bring clean sheets in the middle of the night, so from the beginning we felt at home."

The hotels offer so many activities that, if they choose, parents might barely see their children from breakfast to bedtime, but Kathy Ibbetson says most parents maintain a healthy balance.

"The children are occupied with a range of activities. So as parents we get to relax and have time to ourselves but also to spend quality time with the children. We often say it's the only time we come back from a family holiday when we actually feel like we have had a holiday."

Fifteen-year-old Roz McElwee from Co Laois has been going on package holidays in Ireland since she was two months old. When her parents asked her this year whether she might be getting too old for it, she put them straight. "I would hate to miss this week. I look forward to it so much," she says. "I have made so many friends over the years that I think I will be coming back for another while yet."

At the Great Northern Hotel in Bundoran, Co Donegal, the Happy Hippos club offers numerous summer activities, including trips to the local bowling alley and the horse-riding school. James Keaney, manager of the hotel's leisure centre, says parents enjoy "simple things like being able to enjoy their dinner in peace, just getting time for themselves".

"Once the children are happy the parents are happy," says Caroline Boland of the Dingle Skellig Hotel, where the Funghi Kids' Club is well established. "We find most parents like to have the children entertained in the morning so they can slip off for a round of golf or maybe to the spa, but they want to spend time with them in the afternoon."

"It's difficult during the year, with commuting and the busy pace of life, to spend quality time with the children, but this holiday gives us the space to do that," says Pat Rigney. "But you also get the space to relax on your own. It's the best of both worlds."

You'll enjoy it if . . . . . . the idea of unlimited ice cream makes you smile as much as your four-year-old

Where should you go? Kelly's Resort Hotel in Rosslare, Co Wexford, the Dingle Skellig in Co Kerry, the Galway Ryan and the GreatNorthern Hotel in Co Donegal are just some of the hotels with all-in family packages.

The good news? With the children supervised you can eat your gourmet dinner in that fabulous new local bistro in peace.

The bad news? A seven-night family package can be pricey, so you might not get to that fabulous new local bistro as often as you might like.

Who will you meet? A variety of family-oriented folk for whom nightclubs are not a priority.

What should you pack? Just your clothes. You should get everything else, from tennis balls to playing cards, in the hotel.

What's the damage? All-in packages can be expensive, depending on where you go, but remember that in most places all meals and activities are included. At Kelly's, for example, you can expect to pay about €3,000 a

week for two adults and two teenage children during high season. You tend to be charged slightly less for younger children.