The empty wallet

SIMON TIERNEYlooks at the office lunch hour on a budget

The monotony of popping across the road for a sausage roll and a bag of Tayto during the office lunch hour can become tedious. How about exploring the wealth of free bite-sized lunchtime activities happening around the country? Put down the sausage roll, log off Facebook and head down to the Archive at Lunchtime in the Irish Film Institute (6 Eustace St, Temple bar, Dublin 2, tel: 01 6795744, ifi.ie). The IFI screens short films from their archive for free, every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 1.10pm.

Sometimes you just want to get home after work, so why not do your exercise during your lunch break? Dublin Holistic Centre (28 South William St, Dublin 2, tel: 01 6330063) have designed 40-minute yoga and Pilates classes for busy people who wish to use their lunch break constructively. For class times and dates, visit dublinholisticcentre.com.

There is a free drop-in class pass (normally €7) available to the first 12 readers to email info@dublinholisticcentre.com

Fancy learning something new during your lunch break? The Hunt Museum (The Custom House, Rutland St, Limerick, tel: 061 312833) is hosting a series of ten free lunchtime lectures over the coming months. The next lecture is focusing on maiolica, a type of Renaissance pottery, on November 5th at 1pm. See huntmuseum.comfor further details.

Bewleys Cafe Theatre (2nd Floor, Bewley’s Building, 78/79 Grafton St, Dublin 2, tel: 086 8784001) is a great spot to have lunch and enjoy a play. There are four free pairs of tickets (normally €8-12) available, Mon-Thurs, for their current production of Down by the River, by Paul Kennedy, for the first readers to email info@bewleyscafetheatre.com

The Royal Irish Academy (19 Dawson St, Dublin 2, tel: 01 6762570) is running a series of free lunchtime lectures, focusing on the history of science in Ireland in the 18th and 19th centuries. The lectures are from 1pm-2pm, every Wednesday until November 28th. See ria.iefor details. No booking required.

Last but not least . . .

The Red Line Book Festival ( redlinebookfestival.com) is taking place from November 13th-17th in Dublin. Lisa Fitzpatrick, author of Enjoying Style and Fashion, will be speaking on November 14th at 1pm-1.50pm in the Civic Theatre (Tallaght, Dublin 24, tel: 01 4627477). There are 5 free pairs of tickets (normally €5) available to the first readers to email info@redlinebookfestival.com