A new standby programme, courtesy of the international news group, Reuters Ireland, will enable students to buy theatre tickets at reduced rates during the Dublin Theatre Festival, which starts next week. The scheme is available to full- and part-time students of academically accredited institutions who hold valid IDs. The initiative will enable students to purchase up to two tickets per performance for £5 per ticket. Tickets will be allocated on a best available seat basis, which means that if you buy two tickets, there's no guarantee that they'll be beside each other.

There's no ticket quota set aside for students - it depends entirely on the number of unsold seats. Some plays are already almost sold out - Hamlet for example - but Reuters promises that all cancellations will be made available to students on the night on a first-come-first-served basis.

To obtain tickets, you're advised to queue at theatre box offices one hour before curtain-up. You can check the website - www.eircomtheatrefestival.com - for a daily update on ticket sales.