Give yourself a night life

Many, many years ago when my mother used to desert her family one evening a week to attend a cookery class at the local `tech' I was not impressed. I viewed this outing as totally unnecessary. After all none of us had starved to death.

I was extremely sceptical about her assertion that after the course she would be able to make pastry "as good as granny's." Granny, you see, was the Olympic champion of pastry cooks and there was room for just one queen of tarts in my seven-year-old thinking. I eventually accepted my mother's outings with bad grace and allowed myself to be placated with bribes of Club Milks (kids were easily pleased in those days) and the prospect of eating the spoils of the cookery class the next day.

From what I can remember, the range of night classes available in the mid-Sixties was limited - cookery, woodwork, car maintenance and dressmaking were the backbone of the curriculum. Not any more. The current list of courses on offer at Marino College, Dublin, venue for the aforementioned cookery course, now runs to 88 different course options covering everything from aerobics and astrology to personal tax, law for the lay person, computers, languages, personal development, stained glass, counselling, interior design and calligraphy.

Lack of choice is no longer a good reason to dismiss night classes as "things other people do." The leaves are turning from green to gold and decision time has arrived. Are you going to spend another winter in front of the fire as an intellectually unchallenged coach potato or are you going to do something constructive with the next three months which could amuse, sooth, satisfy and look good on your CV?

There has never been a wider variety of educational, hobby and leisure courses to choose from and most are on offer nearby in local schools and colleges. Those living in Dublin who want a comprehensive listing of what's available can reach for the Wolfhound Guide to Evening Classes 97/98 Dublin's Evening Classes 97/98, both of which sell for £2.99 and are available in bookshops and newsagents. A similar guide for Cork city and county is produced by Collins Press at £2.99.