Opening Lines

Compiled by Nicoline Greer

Compiled by Nicoline Greer

STREETS BROAD AND NARROW

The streetscape of Ballitore in south Co Kildare is not the work of modern town planners, but reflects a history that goes back to its humble 18th-century beginnings as a village created by the Quaker community. It's one of the features of a new website of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) that lists some of the more interesting buildings around the country. There's also the "Wonderful Barn" (left) that dates back to 1743 and is on the Castletown estate in Celbridge. It's a bizarre-looking, corkscrew-shaped grain store inspired by Indian rice stores. Conserving buildings and structures in the face of road building and other developments has proved to be a tough job. The NIAH records the architectural heritage of Ireland from 1700 to the present day and is currently surveying the country. Surveys that have been done so far are available on CDROM - available from bookshops or online from www.wordwellbooks.com at €17.99. See www.buildingsofireland.ie.

PICK A BONE

READ MORE

When you look at the new guide to complaining, produced by Comhairle, you realise that there are in fact a phenomenal amount of places to go and get a good moan off your chest. The booklet is a guide to ensuring that citizens and consumers get the services to which they are entitled. It provides contact details for more than 150 organisations at national and EU level, and includes categories such as public services, consumer and industry regulation, professional bodies and financial services. It also has an explanation of the workings of the courts, including the Small Claims Court, and offers guidance on making complaints and appeals and in seeking redress. The guide is available for download: www.comhairle.ie, or you can pick it up at any Citizens' Information Centre.

GET REEL

Get radical this weekend at the Videoactive Documentary Festival co-hosted by the Cultivate Sustainable Living Centre and Indymedia Ireland. Many of the politically motivated documentaries have not been shown in Ireland before and include Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (today, 2 p.m.) which looks at how growing media empires have affected society; The End of Suburbia (today, 5 p.m.), which looks at the rise in sprawling suburbs made possible by abundant and cheap oil, and Surplus: Terrorised into being Consumers (tomorrow, 8 p.m.), which asks why wealth doesn't automatically lead to happiness and fulfilment. The Videoactive Documentary Festival, Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College, Dublin. Tickets price: €5 for each screening, season tickets, €20. Funds raised will go towards the purchase of digital video projectors for the Cultivate and Indymedia collectives. See indymedia.ie for a full listing of films.

WICKLOW WAY

Walter Pfeiffer, born in Germany, came to Ireland in the 1960s and has heightened the profile of our food, interiors and fashion with his work, including his much acclaimed book, In the Houses of Ireland. His latest offering is devoted to the landscape of Co Wicklow - and nary a person has passed by the book lying open on this desk without a swift intake of breath and a "Wow!". With a quirky introduction by Garech a Brúoutlining the history of the county and its clans and citizens, it's irresistible for anyone who loves Wicklow's rounded mountains and darkly brooding lakes.

Wicklow - a Personal View, by Walter Pfeiffer costs €39 and is published by Walter Pfeiffer Studios. Signings today at Greystones Village Bookshop from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; at Avoca Handweavers, Kilmacanogue from 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. and tomorrow at Avoca Handweavers, Powerscourt, from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. Patsey Murphy

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

John Lowe is "the money doctor". His new book is designed to get ordinary folks in control of their finances, and here are five things we learnt from it:

• Don't buy a pension from someone who can't offer you choice. Ideally you should not buy a pension from someone who only represents one company.

• It's important to involve your children in financial decisions - think about how your parents' approach to money influenced you.

• Create a money plan so you are able to fulfil all your financial ambitions. Don't trust to luck.

• Don't borrow money to pay for lifestyle items. No loan should ever last longer than the thing you are spending the money on.

See www.moneydoctor.ie for more tips, especially tax tips.

The Money Doctor, How to achieve Total Financial Health - Quickly and Easily, by John Lowe, published by Gill and Macmillan, €12.99. Buy online and get a 20 per cent discount, www.gillmacmillan.ie

PLAY BALL

Just because it's gone all dark and wintery, it doesn't mean that the beautiful game has to suffer. Nike has just launched its special high-visibility Total 90 Aerow ball. This year it will be used in every Premiership game during the winter months. This is not just any old glow-in-the-dark thing - it has been created in collaboration with the Pacific University College of Optometry by one of the world's leading sports vision scientists, Dr Alan Recklow. Hard to believe that so much thought could go into a ball. The outer coating has aerodynamic properties, making it extremely fast and accurate. No excuses accepted for poor play. Available from Nike stockists, including Champion Sports and Lifestyle Sports. The cost is €15, or €73 for the Premiership version.

FORGET-ME-NOT

Early childhood drawings, first outfits, first shoes, first curls ... these are some of the sentimental things that people keep as their child is growing up. However, storing them over the years can be a sorry tale of battered old cardboard boxes stuffed in the back of wardrobes. Keri Brady and Anne Paton have designed a pretty treasure chest to hold all the memorable bits and pieces. The Mementos Treasure Chest (€149, plus postage) is made from natural alderwood and painted in a neutral colour, so it is suitable for boys and girls. It would make a different christening present or a gift for new parents. www.mementos.ie (01-8118967/8222270) e-mail: info@mementos.ie.