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Don’t whizz past the big black ball on the M7. Instead, stop in Naas, a nice place to shop, eat and drink – and the hub of the Punchestown festival

NAAS IS KNOWN to many as a destination town for shopping, but it is also very much a sporting town, with the Punchestown festival, which runs from next Tuesday to Saturday, spilling over into every aspect of life. The hotels, bars and restaurants will be flat out, the boutiques will have kitted out many of the Ladies Day hopefuls, and the happy children will get a week off school. Traditionally, the townspeople walked out to the racecourse for the day, and whole families picnicked beside the track. But there is so much more to the town, and one of its key qualities is a fierce sense of community and independence.