A new extreme sport is gripping Ireland in at least 23 windy spots on the coast. Kite-surfing "is cool", and the best exponents are about to show Dubliners why, writes Patrick Butler

Piaras MacDonnell stands on the sandy beach, strings attached to a metal hook on a harness strapped to his wet-suit. Each of these strings is connected to what looks like a bright nylon sheet, lying on the ground, 25 metres away.

Standing on his surfboard, Piaras doesn't look like a normal kite-flyer, waiting for the wind. But then, this isn't normal kite-flying. This is kite-surfing.

This Sunday, the Wind Addiction Kitesurf Team will perform on Dollymount Strand as part of HB/MTV Summer Shakedown dance event.

It's a chance for many spectators to experience for the first time the thrills and excitement of adapting a kite to create an "extreme sport".

The display by the Wind Addiction Kitesurf Team is the culmination of a tour that has been on the road since the middle of July, attracting crowds of up to 15,000.

However, a visit to Dollymount Strand or one of the 23 other recommended power-kiting locations around the windy Irish coast on any Saturday morning will give the uninitiated some sense of just how far the humble kite has come.

"I think we're reliving our youth and being a bit mad," says 33-year-old Piaras, an IT project manager from Mayo who has been kite-surfing for a year.

On a typical weekend, you can see kite-surfers make 20-foot-high leaps into the air.

If that doesn't grab you, then there's always the sight of three-wheeled buggies, powered by kites alone, hitting speeds of up to 30-miles-an-hour.

Or you could just watch the aerial acrobatics performed by traditional kite-flyers, armed with whizzing "stunt-kites".

"A lot of people think kites are for kids until they come down here," says Adrian Phelan who goes kite-buggying on Dollymount Strand, most weekends and some evenings. "If you've had a tough day, it's a great way to let off steam."

The wind can provide a power kite - distinguished from a normal kite by its much larger size and curved wing-like shape - with enough energy to lift an adult off the ground and several feet into the air. Little wonder then that you don't just hold these kites with your hands: you need to attach them to a harness strapped to your body. And let's not overlook the warning from the manufacturer about the string: used carelessly, it can decapitate.

Róisín Davidson (22), started off flying a traditional, delta-shaped kite just for the fun of doing aerobic tricks, now she's progressed to a much larger - and much more powerful - kite, which she uses to race her buggy along the beach.

"Nothing can prepare you for the power of moving from a delta kite to a power kite," she says.

In her case, this couldn't have been truer. The strength of the wind was so unexpected that the kite pulled her over, and dragged her along the ground where she hit her head.

Because it was her first time using a power-kite, she hadn't been wearing a helmet and she ended up concussed.

"If you go out of control, you can be badly hurt," says Piaras MacDonnell. Only recently, he broke his ankle after his kite caught a side-wind and sent him crashing into rocks.

"Think safety right from the start and you'll have no problem," says Adrian Phelan who is also a representative of the Irish Power Kiting Association.

If you don't break any bones, it's likely that if you really get into kites, you might just break something else; the bank. Some kites can costs hundreds of pounds, and that's before any thoughts about buying a surfboard, landboard or buggy. Adrian Phelan says that price shouldn't be prohibitive if you want to start kiting. "The first kite I bought was £40 Irish," he says.

Three years down the line however, he admits to having spent thousands of euro on equipment.

You can get a delta-shaped kite (also known as a stunt kite) for under €50. Be careful, though. Given what you can do with a kite, nowadays, you never know where it might carry you.

The Wind Addiction Kitesurf Team will perform on Dollymount Strand, from 2 p.m. on Sunday. Organisers stress the event is dependent on strong winds. For more information on power-kiting, visit www.kiteireland.com