What Katy did in Dublin: Kate Middleton surprised staff at Richard Alan on Grafton Street when she paid the shop a visit along with her mother Carol on their recent trip to Dublin.
Manager Mary Rose White looked after the pair while the doorman kept paparazzi at bay. After trying on several things, Prince William's girlfriend finally selected a halter-neck green and turquoise handkerchief hem dress by US designer Sue Wong (a favourite with Bianca Jagger and Goldie Hawn, exclusive in Ireland to Richard Alan and Pamela Scott) for €379 in size 8. To avoid photographers, mother and daughter left from the South King Street entrance where they promptly picked up a taxi to Howth. Deirdre McQuillan
Away from it all
Experienced teachers from the Irish Writers' Centre have been recruited to run "In The Write Light", a new creative writing workshop based in Tarifa, in the south of Spain. Nicole Rourke and Nessa O'Mahony will encourage writers to hone their work in this tranquil setting, renowned for its landscapes and wildlife as well as cultural and sporting attractions. We are told there are no criteria for attending - except enthusiasm and imagination. The first workshop runs June 20th-24th; it costs €675 but discounts apply for two or more people. See www.inthewritelight.com
Cody couture
Helen Cody, she of reclaimed lace fame, is to hold a fashion show in the Carroll Transport Warehouse on Sir John Rogerson's Quay next Wednesday, April 18th, at 8pm. Sponsored by Ballymore Properties who own the property, it's by invitation only, but for three days afterwards, she will be selling her couture collection from a "pop-up shop" at No 1 Royal Hibernian Way (Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 19th-21st). Her new collection is less about lace and more about a stronger silhouette embellished with her familiar hand-worked details and light-reflecting fabrics.
"There's tons of grosgrain and tons of taffeta", she sighs, "and ribbons and laser cut and burnt fabrics." The shapes of this 40-piece all-dress collection may be more linear, but the inner workings are very feminine and romantic. "It's all about origami and very different from last season," she says. Prices are from €650 upwards. Deirdre McQuillan
Black gold
"Connect Ethiopia", the ambitious twinning initiative started by Fine Gael candidate Brody Sweeney and solicitor Philip Lee to focus Irish trade and business expertise on just one country, rather than see it dissipated among many, is beginning to yield results. After a meeting with coffee farmers in Addis Ababa last September, Ethiopian coffee beans are now being imported here in quantity and at a fair price. "Sourcing beans direct from the grower means that we can help make a real and sustainable difference to economic growth," says Fiachra Nagle, head of O'Brien's Sandwich Bars (pictured left, with founder Brody Sweeney). With 12 million cups of coffee a year emanating from O'Briens outlets - now in 14 countries - they certainly have the potential to make an impact.
Black Gold, a grim documentary about the €80 billion coffee industry, goes on release in Ireland on June 8th and goes a long way to explain what needs to be done to make "fair trade" more than a "feelgood" concept. "Never before has there been a greater need to look closely at how we all source our food and drink," Nagle says.
Connect Ethiopia is heading another trade mission to Addis this month, with projects afoot in engineering, micro-finance, insurance, medical supplies and textiles. See also: obriensonline.com; blackgoldmovie.com and connectethiopia.com Patsey Murphy
Market forces
The challenge for any farmers' market is to offer the consumer a viable alternative to the supermarket. That means they need to sell not only fruit, vegetables, cakes and breads but also meat and fish. Hats off, then, to South Dublin Co Council and Irish Village Markets, who yesterday launched a new farmers' market, which will run every Friday from 10am-4pm on the High Street in Tallaght. The poor old pig suffers more from intensive farming than any other. The vast majority of pork and bacon we eat comes from animals that have led a miserable life housed in cramped conditions on concrete. It's gratifying therefore that they have three stalls dedicated to porcine delights - Jane Russell's Original Irish sausages, Gowran Grange (free-range rare breed pork) and Prue & Simons Ltd (bacon, sausages). Stalls include the Fish Man, Seamus Kirk; Blazing Salads (organic breads), the Bethlehem Store (dips, falafels, crafts), the Gallic Kitchen (roulades, quiches, pies and tarts) and Aloe Vera Ireland. Irish Village Markets also runs markets in Anglesea Rd, Ballsbridge every Thursday and Monkstown Village every Saturday. www.irishvillagemarkets.com. Michael Kelly
Hammer time
Did you know we spent €1.8 million on property surveys last year? That each house at auction will have had an average of four separate surveys on it? Seems an awful waste of money. Kim McClenaghan certainly thought so, and set up hammer.ie. Launched this month, it's a new website that lets you share the cost of your survey. And while that might seem like you're co-operating with the people who'll be bidding against you, just think of all the money you might be saving. Look up the property you're thinking of buying and, if it's already on hammer.ie, you can download the survey for a percentage of the cost. If it's not up there, and you commission a survey, you'll get money back every time someone else looks at it. It's a site that makes more sense the more people get involved: good news for house buyers, not such great news for surveyors. See www.hammer.ie . Gemma Tipton
Choc pots
Had too much chocolate over Easter? There's always room for another little bit . . . Have one more chocolaty fling at the Wicked Event, on Sunday, April 15th at Geoffrey Healy's studio in Kilmacanogue. There'll be music from Madeline Doherty's electric blue harp; wicked hot chocolate from Wicklow Fine Foods (chocolate stirrers, melting into hot milk); and the launch of Healy's latest range of ceramics with soul. Nourishing, naughty and nice - all in one go. The event also sees the start of Healy's annual sale. Geoffrey Healy's Studio is between Glendalough and Kilmacanogue. For directions see www.healy-pottery.com or call 01-2829270 Gemma Tipton
Precious letters
One of the last letters written by Pádraig Pearse, mere hours before his execution on May 2nd, 1916, is expected to fetch €100,000 at an "Independence" auction next Tuesday. The letter, addressed to General Maxwell, commander of the British forces in Ireland, contains his final instructions, and asks that his remaining effects be handed to his mother or sister.
Also for sale is a batch of 14 letters by Moya Llewelyn Davies containing gossip about Michael Collins (left), Kitty Kiernan (a "heavy drinker, plain and vulgar" according to Llewelyn Davies) and Lady Lavery (who "only looked well from a distance", she wrote unkindly). Davin O'Dwyer