Stage is set:From June 14th to 24th, Ireland will participate for the first time in the world's largest theatre design exhibition, taking place in Prague.
The work of more than 40 Irish designers working in set, costume, make-up, lighting and sound design feature in our national exhibit. In total, 60 countries from all over the world will participate in the event, called PQ 07. The organisers of the emerging designers' section ran a competition asking students from participating countries to submit a theatre and costume design for Aristophanes's comedy, The Birds, and the designs of two Irish students from the Institute of Art, Design & Technology in Dún Laoghaire, Nena McNamee and David Mulreany, were chosen to be part of a specially critiqued exhibition. The Irish exhibit will include the work of 50 Irish students in total, including Fiona Walsh, whose stage make-up submission is pictured right. See www.pq.cz. Michael Kelly
Food in the hood
Nowadays, the word "cornershop" is more likely to conjure up an image of an overpriced, soulless convenience store than a traditional, locally-run grocery shop. But, much to the delight of Stoneybatter residents, an old-style cornershop with a modern deli twist has just opened on Arbour Hill. It seems a particularly apt development for a place such as Stoneybatter - a changing community within Dublin's north inner city, populated by locals who've lived there for generations and increasing numbers of young professionals. The proprietor of Lilliput Stores - so-called due to its proximity to the home of the Lilliput Press - is Stoneybatter resident Brendan O'Mahony. "It's a very nice neighbourhood and I thought it would suit a food shop like this. It's about being a practical shop that stocks everything from the basics to chorizo and salami and fine cheeses," says O'Mahony, who also runs the Real Olive Co, a regular participant in Irish farmers' markets.
Not only does the shop sell freshly-ground coffee, breads, salads, sandwiches, organic vegetables and all sorts of artisan goodies, it also stocks staples such as milk and tea - and all at reasonable prices.
Coincidentally, too, Lilliput Stores opened for business on the very same day as Plan B, a friendly cafe/wine bar a couple of streets away at Manor Place. Modelled on the eateries in Dublin's so-called Italian quarter, Plan B serves pasta, bruschettas, salads and, of course, a variety of Italian wines. Eimear McKeith
Sixties dress-up
It's a year since Sassy Sue's Go Go Inevitable started filling the floor at The Sugar Club on Leeson Street in Dublin 2. Once described as "the musical equivalent of a bagful of Biba on the back seat of Sandie Shaw's Mini", it has become known as the most fun-filled club night on Fridays, due to its mix of 1960s soul and garage music danced to by a dressed-up crowd. Next Friday the organisers, Rory O'Keeffe and Martin Thomas, are celebrating with DJ Dandelion and a live performance by psycho surf band The Revillions. Mod band The Urges will also seize the decks for a rare DJ set. E-mail ops@therescuesquad.comand you could win a night's accommodation for two people at the cool Grafton House on George's Street ( www.graftonguesthouse.com), dinner at The Canal Bank restaurant, transport from there to the club, and Piper Heidsieck champagne at a specially reserved table. See www.therescuesquad.com. Eoin Lyons
Home is where the art is
Art and fashion are uniting for two weeks in July when, for the second year running, a sale of specially commissioned art pieces by 60 up-and-coming young Irish artists will go on sale in BT2 in Grafton Street, Dublin, from July 18th to 30th. The artworks, which are varied in style and medium, are responses to the notion of home. Each measures around 400mm x 400mm and costs €350. Artists include Mo Kelly (who has had eight sell-out solo shows to date), Ross Stewart, based in Kilkenny, and Maurice Redmond, a Dublin-born Munich-based graphic designer who has designed racing bikes for Tour de France champion Jan Ullrich. Profits from the sale will be go to Focus Ireland's Extension and Outreach Centre for homeless young people in Dublin. Deirdre McQuillan
Bring your brolly
Environmentalists say we only have 10 years left to take action to save the planet from runaway climate change, and the next Government will probably last half that time. We can be sure they won't make climate change their priority unless we tell them it's ours.
Ireland is pretty much Europe's most enthusiastic emitter of greenhouse gases, which takes some of the good out of our proud stance on international aid. Stop Climate Chaos, an alliance of 20 Irish aid and environment agencies, is inviting the public to send a message to the new Government that they must reduce carbon emissions, by joining Umbrella Action Day at the Martello Tower in Sandymount Strand tomorrow at 3pm.
They're asking people to bring an umbrella, the kids, a picnic and have fun. Choreographer Muirne Bloomer will be coaching the crowd on how to wave its collective brolly at the politicians and demand "a future for our children, a decent life for the world's poor, and hope for the planet."
Art of the jacket
If you want to know the secrets of the Chanel jacket, a special customer fashion event in Brown Thomas, Dublin on June 12th-14th will reveal why it remains a enduring favourite. The first ones, made before the l920s, were in jersey, but later, in the mid-l950s were made in the more familiar tweed. Pockets and sleeves had to meet specific construction requirements. Chanel was always fussy about the setting of the sleeve, so that it never hindered movement. Linings were - and remain - always in silk and conceal a fine chain that gives the jacket the right hang and keeps it in place. Chanel jackets are always weighted in this way and since l983 Karl Lagerfeld has been reinventing and reinterpreting the cut of the jacket whether long or short, close-fitting or loose, but always keeping to its basic principles. Deirdre McQuillan
Urban stories
Finally architecture is hot. Across the world, people are realising that it's time to look at how our cities are being put together - and also to spare a thought for what we're doing to the countryside. Conferences, festivals and exhibitions are luring the people who have to live in architecture (that's all of us) as well as the people who plan, design and build it to come and take a look. This summer, following on from Ireland's success at the Venice Biennale last year (the exhibition SubUrban SuperRural is now touring Ireland), comes Urban Void/Extended City, Ireland's project for the first ever Lisbon Triennale. Peter Cody of Boyd Cody Architects and Peter Carroll of A2 Architects, curators of the Irish entry, have selected 11 architectural practices to look at exactly how present day Dublin is being put together, from gardens to towerblocks, docklands to hinterlands. The exhibition will be on show until July 31st. And if you're not planning a trip to Portugal this summer, check out the projects online at www.linetosurface.org. Gemma Tipton