Dublin Event Guide 298: Adult Learners Festival, Print Museum Demo Day, Classic French Clothing Sale, Green Drinks

The seventh AONTAS Adult Learner’s Festival, a nationwide celebration of adult learning, will take place in the last week of February from 25 Feb until 02 March.

Thanks to the great initiative of Open Learning Ireland and their learning festival “Learn Something; Share Something; Do Something”. The website at www.adultlearnersfestival.com/yourarea/county.html#dublincity lists a long list of events, but was it not for the volunteers at Open Learning Ireland, the list would look bleak!

When you check the list of events, don’t just look at Dublin City, but also check the events for Dublin North and Dublin South.

Engineers Week will take place in Ireland from 25 Feb until 03 March. It is mainly targetted at school children and students from Primary Level to Third Level, but there are a number of Family events taking place too. A HUGE amount of events will take place during the week and if you have school going children that might be interested, you should check it out

The “Learn Something; Share Something; Do Something Festival” is a great new free week-long Learning Festival that is organised by a great group of volunteers at “Open Learning Ireland”, who all are working to create an alternative educational model in Ireland.

There will be a whole host of fun learning activities, workshops and classes and all is free and open to all. for you to try out, Topics, themes and areas include: Hackspace, Aerobics, Biology, Art, Languages (Spanish, Arabic, Basque), Astronomy. Radio Production, Bike Building, Sitcom Writing,Circuit Bending, Philosophy, Internet, Depression, Drama, Coding, Human Rights, Storytelling and many many more.

The idea of learning in a fun informal context is a brilliant idea and if you have time to participate in some of the courses, you should definitely go. The full schedule is at the link below and the Open Learning Ireland website tells you a bit more about the people and the idea behind the festival.

The Ferocious Mingle Marcade (Market and Arcade) place every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday it is a fancy dress market. It’s a flea-market type permanent market with stalls and “chalets” for traders. The Oscar Verne Café on site and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

A free Greek and European Folk Dance class open to all. Contact Katerini Papathanasiou on papath.kat@gmail.com

Need to wind down after a tiring week? Free Sahaja Yoga Meditation (not physical yoga, but “yoga meditation”!) classes every Friday at 19:30 at 4/5 Eustace Street, Temple Bar (next to IFI, ring bell no. 3)

A drop in class, with newcomers welcome.

Cornucopia Café & Restaurant host live music three evenings a week (Thurs, Fri and Sat). The restaurant is a Wholefood & Vegetarian Restaurant and is open until 22:15.
+ Every second Thursday N.C Lawlor, a songwriter, session player and troubadour plays a mix of country, bluegrass & blues from 19:30-21:30.
+ Every Friday (19:30-21:30) Junshi Murakami plays Irish Harp.
+ Every Saturday (19:30-21:30) Nollaig Mann plays a collection of popular and jazz classics.

Astronomy Ireland’s weekly free telescope nights are beginning again, and will take place each Friday night at 20:00 if the weather permits. Check the website below for a weather forecast and to find out what you will be able to see at the telescope night. The focus will be on Jupiter and Moon.

The Addison Lodge are inviting local bands, musicians, poets, comedians and performers to share their talents at the new Addison Lodge Open Mic Nights in Glasnevin (opposite the Botanic Gardens). The event starts on Friday 22 February and will take place every week. Admission is free.

The Stillorgan Orchard provides regular live music. The upcoming gigs are detailed on the website below.

A weekly car boot sale, one of less than a handful that is still reliably taking place, has up to 200 cars/sellers. The stadium is just a few minutes walk from the Red LUAS line stop and numerous bus stops. For traders the Car Boot Sale opens at 06:30 for buyers from 08:00. If you are interested in selling, check the details and register on their website.

The Dublin Food Co-op is open every Saturday at Newmarket for organic wholefoods and sustainable household products, plus over a dozen producer stalls offering organic fruit and veg., baked goods, dairy produce, wines, hot and cold food, etc. The Co-op is also open on Thursdays 12:00-20:00.

The weekly Honest2goodness food market in Glasnevin has fresh meat, vegetables, fish, baked goods, and wines. It is open from 09:30-16:00. It is behind Lidl in the Industrial Estate just after the Glasnevin Cemetary coming from the City Centre.

Parkrun Ireland is organising free weekly runs in parks. It is a timed run over 5km and participation is completely free, but registration before your first parkrun is required.

There are only a few (free) tickets still available. 159 people have already registered, so you need to hurry! Registration is here www.eventbrite.ie/event/5144613678?ref=ebtnebregn#

Science Hack Day brings together designers, developers, scientists, artists in the same physical space for a brief but intense period of collaboration, hacking and building cool stuff. The day starts in the morning and goes long into thenight or you can even stay over at the big “geek slumber party”. ;-) The event continues on Sunday from 09:00 until 17:30.

Find all details on the website.

The SuperNatural Food Market is taking place every Saturday from 09:30-15:30 in St. Andrews Resource Centre in Pearse Street, Dublin 2.

The seventh AONTAS Adult Learner’s Festival, a nationwide celebration of adult learning, will take place in the last week of February from 25 Feb until 02 March.

Thanks to the great initiative of Open Learning Ireland and their learning festival “Learn Something; Share Something; Do Something”. The website at www.adultlearnersfestival.com/yourarea/county.html#dublincity lists a long list of events, but was it not for the volunteers at Open Learning Ireland, the list would look bleak!

When you check the list of events, don’t just look at Dublin City, but also check the events for Dublin North and Dublin South.

At this Drop-in Family Activity, you can try out some school-work that might have been on the blackboard in the 1800s. What was it like to be at school about 200 years ago? Activities are inspired by the exhibition on display, the ’Kildare Place Society’. Art materials provided. No booking required. Admission is free

Engineers Week will take place in Ireland from 25 Feb until 03 March. It is mainly targetted at school children and students from Primary Level to Third Level, but there are a number of Family events taking place too. A HUGE amount of events will take place during the week and if you have school going children that might be interested, you should check it out

Jamestown Flea Market + Car Boot Sale takes place every Sat+Sun from 10:00-17:00. You can reach it from Tyrconnell Road and from Kylemore Road and it is within 3 min from Black Horse stop on the red Luas line. There is free parking.

The “Learn Something; Share Something; Do Something Festival” is a great new free week-long Learning Festival that is organised by a great group of volunteers at “Open Learning Ireland”, who all are working to create an alternative educational model in Ireland.

There will be a whole host of fun learning activities, workshops and classes and all is free and open to all. for you to try out, Topics, themes and areas include: Hackspace, Aerobics, Biology, Art, Languages (Spanish, Arabic, Basque), Astronomy. Radio Production, Bike Building, Sitcom Writing,Circuit Bending, Philosophy, Internet, Depression, Drama, Coding, Human Rights, Storytelling and many many more.

The idea of learning in a fun informal context is a brilliant idea and if you have time to participate in some of the courses, you should definitely go. The full schedule is at the link below and the Open Learning Ireland website tells you a bit more about the people and the idea behind the festival.

The Merchants Market on East Wall Road is a relatively new weekly market on Saturdays and Sundays with more than 80 stalls. There is everything from furniture and antiques to paintings and mirrors, electronics and hot food to bicycles and buns. Sounds interesting and I will check it out over the coming weeks. It is just a few minutes walk away from the Point Theatre/O2 (walk in the direction of the Port Tunnel). www.facebook.com/merchantsindoormarket

An indoor market in Coolock with over 40 traders with a wide range of goods and a café on site as well.

Give your business a boost with the latest in social media services. A Social Media Training for Business will take place on Saturday. Places are limited and booking essential. Tel: 01-4620073 www.southdublinlibraries.ie/business/social-media-training-business

The website of the South County Library in Tallaght also lists another training at the same time on the same day. It is entitled “Social Media Hands-on” and is described as “Phyl Stubbs will deliver this session on using Facebook and setting up a business page etc.”. www.southdublinlibraries.ie/social-media-hands Could the two trainings be the same or are they definitely two separate sessions? You better ring!

The Temple Bar Markets (Food Market on Meeting House Square, Book Market on Temple Bar Square and the Designer Mart near Cow’s Lane) are taking place every Saturday from 10:00-16:30.

This gathering is the signature event organized by D.U.S.T (Dublin Unit for Speculative Thought), an art/theory collective recently founded. The primary aim of DUST is to stage conversations between disparate groups of people – artists, aestheticians, philosophers, non-philosophers, theorists -who find themselves at the fringes of academic institutions and disciplines and who are also broadly interested in speculative realism and post-continental philosophy.

The talks throughout the day vary widely, but they have in common that many of us will feel left out. A typical title of one of the talks is “Toward a Phenomenology of (Xeno)archaeology”. Clear? Have a look at the website to find all other details.

One detail that unfortunately you won’t find, however, is the admission charge or an indication that the event is free. I have no idea if it is free or not, so please check the website thoroughly and then make your decisionif you want to go to the event.

The event runs on Sat and Sun and in connection with it, the exhibition “Weaponising Speculation Exhibition” at Block T, Smithfield Plaza, Dublin 7 will take place. See additional information about the exhibition in the Exhibition Section of this e-zine.

Friends of the Elderly is a voluntary organisation working to alleviate loneliness and isolation among elderly people and they have received a massive container of classic pre-owned clothes from France.

These clothes will be sold on 02 March at extremely low prices as they have to try to sell as much as they can in one day. The clothes are labelled as “Classic vintage” and if low priced second-hand clothes from France might be your thing, get there early!

“These Are a Few of My Favourite Things” is the title of a Walking Tour that Emily Gallagher will run every Saturday. It will be an Alternative Arts and Culture Trail and she will bring you to “Dublin’s Best Cafes, Bars, Markets, Unusual Stores, Galleries, Theatres, Arts Spaces, and more! And hear some tales you’ve never heard before!”

Meeting point is at the Spire. The tours are free but donations are welcome and booking is recommended via egaldog@gmail.com or 085-2725095

At the Blackrock Market in the centre of Blackrock, you’ll find 50 stalls selling collectibles, antiques, handmade goods, books, food & there’s free popcorn, ballons & facepainting for the kids.
Open on Saturdays and Bank Holidays: 11:00-17:30, and Sundays: 12:00-17:30.

A Music Open Day with a difference will be hosted by DIT’s Conservatory of Music and Drama on Saturday. It is talored for the JUNIOR musicians (from Age 3!) and is an ideal opportunity for parents, teachers, and prospective junior students to discover the many junior and part-time study options available at the Conservatory of Music and Drama at DIT.

During the day, parents and children will have an opportunity to ‘try out’ a range of instruments, in order to see, hear and feel the instrument they wish to learn to play. Expert tutors will demonstrate the instruments and answer any questions that parents and students might have. So whether you want to find out what’s the best age for your child to start music lessons, or which instrument would suit you, DIT staff will be delighted to help you with any questions that you might have.

In addition, throughout the day visitors can enjoy individual and ensemble performances by current Conservatory students of all ages.

The Conservatory offers a great range of learning opportunities at its Junior Conservatory: the Kids’ Club is open to children as young as three, while the Music Workshop caters for five to seven year olds. Seven to eleven year olds interested in learning how to play a wind instrument may start in the Recorder Class Applications for study at the Junior Conservatory and adult part time study for the 2013-14 Academic year are now open.

Check the flyer for the event here:
www.dit.ie/conservatory/media/conservatoryofmusicanddrama/documents/eventdocuments/op13_a5flyer.pdf

Eason Story Time is back. As part of Eason’s “Get Into Reading” campaign, a specially selected children’s book will be read at 11:00 each Saturday in every Eason store in the country. On the website below are the dates and book titles from now until mid-June and for the next two months I have them included here:

02 Mar: Jack and The Flumflum Tree by Julia Donaldson
09 Mar: My Mum by Anthony Browne
16 Mar: Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
23 Mar: Brave Beast by Chris Judge
30 Mar: Smartest Giant in Town by Julia Donaldson

The Ferocious Mingle Marcade (Market and Arcade) place every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday it is a fancy dress market. It’s a flea-market type permanent market with stalls and “chalets” for traders. The Oscar Verne Café on site and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

The next Walking Tour of Art for Art’s Sake will take place on Saturday. The tours introduce you to galleries, studios, exhibitions and artists in Dublin. They are informal and a freat opportunity to meet other people interested in art and the people who make it happen.

Meeting point this week is the Chester Beatty Library and the tour will visit the Chester Beatty Library, Little Green Gallery, Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, Graphic Studio Dublin, Icon Factory and Icon Walk.

Participation is free, but donations are welcome. To book your place contact artforartsake.gallery@gmail.com or go to the website below to register. And tell Jennette that you heard about her Tour in the Dublin Event Guide for Free Events! :-)

During Engineers Week a Demonstration Day at the National Print Museum will take place. – Discover how the printed word was traditionally ‘engineered’. Have you ever seen a museum come to life? Suitable for all ages, a Demonstration Day at the National Print Museum is the perfect opportunity to witness the fascinating traditional craft of letterpress printing in practice as volunteer active retired printers and typesetters share highlights of and captivating stories about the Museums’ collection and their time in the industry.

I have experienced something similar in the National Print Museum a couple of years back when a retired printer who visited the museum with his family just started to explain the machine he worked on for years and people gathered around him at this impromptu lecture. It was truly fascinating to listen to him.

The weekly Ha’penny Flea Market is an indoor market in the Grand Social Pub, which offers vintage Men and Women’s clothing, contemporary crafts, books, DVDs, vinyl records, vintage and handmade jewellery, vintage hair styles, art, photography and much more. Dux & Co will offer food and the Grand Social’s Bar and Gourmet Coffee options are available.

A Monthly PopUp Record Fair will take place and admission is free.

Astronomy Ireland are continuing their weekly Sun Shows at the Astronomy Ireland Shop in Swords. Each Saturday, the staff of the Astronomy Ireland Shop will be showing you amazing views of our nearest star. Using special filters and some of the largest telescopes in Ireland you will get to see sunspots bigger than Earth and huge solar flare bursting from our nearest star. If it’s cloudy, there will be a telescope demonstration and you will find out how you can safely observe the Sun and undertake some daytime astronomy using your own telescope.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings on three days every week in February.
The Double Bill on Saturdays is described here:
02+9+16+13+30 March: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-double-bill-9/
The Monday/Wednesday programmes are here
04+13+18+27 March: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-1-25/
06+11+20+25 March: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-2-24/

As part of the AONTAS Adult Learners’ Week, bring the whole family along to discover a new way of looking at Dublin’s Viking Heritage with this object-handling session which includes fossils, textiles and a replica Viking sword. No booking required. Places limited. Admission is free.

The Progressive Film Club and the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign invite to a special Palestine Mini-Film Festival in the Pearse Centre. Three films will be screened
+ 14:00 Spirit of Shuhada Street (2011)
+ 15:30 Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (2006)
+ 16:30 Roadmap to Apartheid (2012)
Admission is free, donations are welcome.

The Ghost Bus will be parked outside the Mansion House and children aged 7+ can come on board for a reading of scary stories and spooky tales. “Meet the authors of the Nightmare Club books and watch out for a few creepy surprises that may be lurking on the Ghost Bus.” Admission is free.

A “New Writing Playreading” will take place in the New Theatre. It is entitled “The Boys” and was written by Gerard Humphreys. The Playreading is produced by Camille Donegan and directed by Mary Moynihan.

Admission is free and a suggested donation of EUR 2 is welcome.

It is a play about a young boy desperately trying to find his place within his extended family and falling foul of the justice system in Ireland.

Cornucopia Café & Restaurant host live music three evenings a week (Thurs, Fri and Sat). The restaurant is a Wholefood & Vegetarian Restaurant and is open until 22:15.
+ Every second Thursday N.C Lawlor, a songwriter, session player and troubadour plays a mix of country, bluegrass & blues from 19:30-21:30.
+ Every Friday (19:30-21:30) Junshi Murakami plays Irish Harp.
+ Every Saturday (19:30-21:30) Nollaig Mann plays a collection of popular and jazz classics.

You are invited to attend a Race Night in Lucan Golf Club in aid of the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation. It is a fundraising night with raffle etc, but there is no admission charge. All proceeds of the evening will go directly to Christina Noble Children’s Foundation and will help with the work being done by Christina and her team for thousands of street children in Vietnam and Mongolia.

This is a weekly Saturday night jazz event in the basement Wine Cave of KC Peaches wholefood restaurant/café. Food will be served until 22:00 and wine, minerals & music will be available until later. Admission is free and a donation into a hat at the end of the evening is appreciated.

The Stillorgan Orchard provides regular live music. The upcoming gigs are listed on the website below.

Old Skool is performing at the Midnight Hour in Whelan’s. Admission is free until 22:30 and the gig starts at midnight.

Engineers Week will take place in Ireland from 25 Feb until 03 March. It is mainly targetted at school children and students from Primary Level to Third Level, but there are a number of Family events taking place too. A HUGE amount of events will take place during the week and if you have school going children that might be interested, you should check it out

Jamestown Flea Market + Car Boot Sale takes place every Sat+Sun from 10:00-17:00. You can reach it from Tyrconnell Road and from Kylemore Road and it is within 3 min from Black Horse stop on the red Luas line. There is free parking.

The Long Mile Road Market behind Wigoders on Long MIle Road (across the road from Aldi) hosts more than 50 stalls and there is also a Cafe on site.

The Merchants Market on East Wall Road is a relatively new weekly market on Saturdays and Sundays with more than 80 stalls. There is everything from furniture and antiques to paintings and mirrors, electronics and hot food to bicycles and buns. Sounds interesting and I will check it out over the coming weeks. It is just a few minutes walk away from the Point Theatre/O2 (walk in the direction of the Port Tunnel). www.facebook.com/merchantsindoormarket

Every Sunday, the Merrion Square Open Air Art Gallery takes place. Up to 200 artists exhibit their paintings on the railings on three sides (West, North and East) of Merrion Square and you can just enjoy the exhibition or even buy.

This gathering is the signature event organized by D.U.S.T (Dublin Unit for Speculative Thought), an art/theory collective recently founded. The primary aim of DUST is to stage conversations between disparate groups of people – artists, aestheticians, philosophers, non-philosophers, theorists -who find themselves at the fringes of academic institutions and disciplines and who are also broadly interested in speculative realism and post-continental philosophy.

The talks throughout the day vary widely, but they have in common that many of us will feel left out. A typical title of one of the talks is “Toward a Phenomenology of (Xeno)archaeology”. Clear? Have a look at the website to find all other details.

One detail that unfortunately you won’t find, however, is the admission charge or an indication that the event is free. I have no idea if it is free or not, so please check the website thoroughly and then make your decisionif you want to go to the event.

The event runs on Sat and Sun and in connection with it, the exhibition “Weaponising Speculation Exhibition” at Block T, Smithfield Plaza, Dublin 7 will take place. See additional information about the exhibition in the Exhibition Section of this e-zine.

The well known Palestrina Choir sing every Sunday at the mass in St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral. They sing complete masterworks by Mozart, Haydn, Dvorak, Palestrina, de Victoria, usually accompanied by Prof. Gerard Gillen on the organ, who often also plays a solo piece.

The next Pure Vintage Fair will take place this week and it is what it says on the tin. A market/flea market for vintage items, which will take place on the first Sunday of every month. There will be vintage clothes, furniture, collectibles, jewellery and many more vintage items. Sounds interesting and with 30 stalls, it is well worth a visit. There will also be food, hot drinks and a DJ. www.facebook.com/events/163512747132208/

The Ferocious Mingle Marcade (Market and Arcade) place every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday it is a fancy dress market. It’s a flea-market type permanent market with stalls and “chalets” for traders. The Oscar Verne Café on site and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

The documentary “The phenomenon Bruno Gröning- On the tracks of the miracle healer“, shows the events surrounding Bruno Gröning. In autumn of 1949, close to 30,000 people were drawn to the Traberhof in Rosenheim (Germany) daily. Newspapers, radio and television reported: “It is beyond reason. Bruno Gröning heals the crippled, the blind, the deaf…“
Today the Circle of Friends of Bruno Gröning continue his work and spreading the word about his healings through screenings of the documentary.

The event runs from 11:00-17:30 and it says “including 2 intermissions”. Checking what that means, I found that the documentary is in three parts and is 282 minutes (!!) long. Wow, that’s 4 hours and 40 minutes!

Admission is free and donations are appreciated.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

At the Blackrock Market in the centre of Blackrock, you’ll find 50 stalls selling collectibles, antiques, handmade goods, books, food & there’s free popcorn, ballons & facepainting for the kids.
Open on Sundays: 12:00-17:30. Open on Saturdays and Bank Holidays: 11:00-17:30.

An indoor market in Coolock with over 40 traders with a wide range of goods and a café on site as well.

The Sundays at Noon Concert Series continues in the Sculpture Gallery at the Hugh Lane Gallery. Now in its 36th year, this series of free (mainly classical) concerts continues to present the best of Irish and International music and musicians. Concerts run from September to June. The next concert will feature the Dunne & Hernandez Duo. Dermot Dunne accordion and Ariel Hernandez guitar and vocals will perform a selection of traditional dance tunes and songs from Argentina and original compositions by Ariel Hernandez.

This Craft Market in aid of Head Space Zine will take place on Sunda.y Expect all sorts of crafts, such as hand made hair accessories, hand crafted jewellery, knit wear, lots of varied art works, fun crochet pieces, paper craft and plenty more. Food and drink available in the Little Green Gallery all day.

The poster or Facebook Page doesn’t state it explicitly, but there are indications that admission is free.

A Community Ambassador Tour in Arabic with Karma El Shawa is taking place. Let all your Arabic speaking friends know!

The “Dublin Sketchers” is an informal group of typically hobby artists who go somewhere different in Dublin every Sunday (e.g. National Museum, Maritime Museum, Dublin Flea Market, Farmleigh, Botanic Gardens, Dublin Castle), sketch for one to two hours and then meet up for coffee afterwards and discuss their sketches. There are some hugely talented people among them and it is a great idea to meet up with others who have the same hobby. Find out on their website where they will meet and join them if you do some sketching/drawing yourself. I know that the Dublin Sketchers often use the Dublin Event Guide to find interesting free events and I am delighted to be able to help!

Learn about pollinating insects and make your very own hanging basket with various Spring flowers. Spaces limited to 30 families (one basket per family). Meeting point is next to the playground. Admission is free, but booking is required. Contact Andrew Fleming, who will lead this workshop on 087-3299936 or email info@owls.ie

Afternoon Jazz in Café en Seine. The Stella Bass Jazz Trio play every Sunday from 14:00-16:00 in Café en Seine in Dawson Street. Admission is free. A video is here www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8aKqtOB5S8

“Cornerstones” is a play and a rehearsed play reading for it will take place on Sunday in connection with the Collaborations Theatre and Arts Festival. Admission is free, but registration is required.

About the play;
Four teenagers, one squat, Dublin City Centre. Being homeless isn’t all bad for Jonno Sheehan once he meets Ciara and is invited back to ‘the gaff’. Sex, drugs, drink – what more could a young fellah want? And with the odd bit of knocked-off clobber, life on the street is more than bearable. That is until fellow gaff-dweller and wannabe crime-lord Derry decides to build an empire.

And about Collaborations:
Collaborations is a safe space to experiment, explore and develop that piece of theatre, art, performance that you are passionate about. Curated by The Jack Burdell Experience it features a number of events including live theatre performance, readings, poetry events and workshops. There is also a free exhibition in Smock Alley’s Banquet Hall which runs for the length of the festival which ends on March 9th.

To book your ticket for Cornerstones contact Smock Alley on 01-6770014

Come to the Family Drawing Sundays in the RHA. All children are welcome to use the RHA Art Cart, in the RHA Atrium. Admission is free. For further information, contact Ruth Carroll on 01 6612558 or via ruth@rhagallery.ie

In celebration of National Tree Week a special guided tour will take place, introducing some of the most beautiful and interesting trees of the National Botanic Gardens. Meet at the Education and Visitor Centre

Marking the launch of the publication, ’A History of Ireland in 100 Objects’, join Museum educator Eimir O’Brien on a special tour of some of the objects from the book on display at Collins Barracks. Places are allocated 15 minutes before tour starts. The tour is suitable for adults and admission is free.

Unlike the three branches of the National Museum, the National Print Museum is normally not free, but every Sunday there is a free public tour for the next few weeks. Every visit begins with a short audio-visual presentation where the audience can observe active retired printers providing practical demonstrations of machines from the Museum’s collection.

The next Sunday Sketching for 7+ Year olds has the title “Mad Mirrors”. No booking necessary. Admission is free and early arrival is recommended.

At the next monthly meeting of the Humanist Association of Ireland Tom Curran, spokesperson for Exit International, will be speaking about his work for the organisation and the joint campaign with his partner, Marie Fleming, for the right for her to have a medically assisted death if her terminal illness becomes too much for Marie to bear.

The monthly meetings are open to everyone and admission is free.

Saucy Sundays is a weekly free live music afternoon and evening in the Grand Social. The line-up and links to all bands/performers are available via the Saucy Sundays Facebook Page (see link below). The bands and performers are The Eskies, Natahn Conway /& The River Valley Band, Tongue Bundle, Amidships, You Kiss By The Book, Juliets Rescue, Jericho, Laura Elizabeth Hughes.

The wedding and party band The Long John Jump Band play every Sunday evening in Café en Seine. Admission is free.

The Gardiner Street Gospel Choir Mass invites to a Mass in St. Francis Xavier Church at the top of Gardiner Street near the junction with Dorset Street every Sunday at 19:30. The Gardiner Street Gospel Choir, one of the best known choirs in Ireland will sing during the mass and everybody is welcome independent from your level of religiousness.

Every Sunday a band will play from 21:00-22:30, a Latin Beat Club, Brazilian DJs and Salsa Classes (from 18:00) are additional features. Admission is free.

Every Sunday this singer-songwriter night takes place in the Bleeding Horse in Camden St. from 8.30pm. It is an Open mic night and performers can just turn up and put their name on the list for that night.

The Comedy Crunch is a free Stand Up comedy downstairs in Stag’s Head, Dame Lane from 21:00 every week on Sun+Mon. Every week different comedians entertain and on top of that there is some free ice cream. The line-up can be found via the Comedy Crunch Facebook Page (see link below).

Rogério from the Brazilian dance project “Forró de Lampião” in Dublin tells me: Forró de Lampião is Brazilian music that has the same roots as Samba and there is a whole culture that has developed around “forro”. Every Sunday, free dance classes take place in the Grand Social (new loation!) and if you are interested, just turn up one Sunday.

“Rhythm Rocker at The Globe” is a weekly event on Sunday night in The Globe in Sth Great Georges Street, Dublin 2. It is a Rockabilly, R’n’R, Roots night with alternating (week by week) live bands Pavement Kings, Donna & The Sazzy Catz, The Mosquitoes and The Pacifics from 21:00 and with DJs from 23:00-01:30. Admission is free.

Billy Treacy & The Ha’Penny Heads are playing Ballads, Folk, Trad and Classic Country every Sunday. Featuring Guitar, Mandolin, Fiddle and Banjo.

The weekly Sunday Roast is a free event in the Mercantile where live music is combined with free roast potatoes. The line-up for the upcoming Sunday Roast is available via the Sunday Roast Facebook Page (see link below). The bands and performers are Declan Greene, Fink al Tom Shamie, Hips, Attic Walls.

Every Sunday (except at Bank Holiday weekends), the Ragtime, Roots and Country Blues Band “Cool Hand Dukes” play in the Porterhouse near Grafton Street.

“Rohit Thakral, owner of Target Integrations, will get you right up to speed on what’s coming in Could Computing.” The website doesn’t seem to request it, but itmight be a good idea to book your place for this Business Month event by ringing 01-4597834

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings on three days every week in February.
The Double Bill on Saturdays is described here:
02+9+16+13+30 March: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-double-bill-9/
The Monday/Wednesday programmes are here
04+13+18+27 March: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-1-25/
06+11+20+25 March: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-2-24/

The Peter Maxwell Davies Workshop at the Royal Irish Academy of Music will feature Bill Dowdall (Flute) and Paul Roe (clarinet). And they will perform Maxwell Davies Veni Creator Spiritus in a workshop with the composer, which also features RIAM student compositions. Admission is free.

The National Tree Week Annual Lecture: “The Food Value of Tree Produce in the Irish Diet Through Time” with food historian, lecturer, writer, broadcaster and cook Regina Sekston (replace “ks” with “x” for correct but spam filter incompatible spelling) will take place. Trees and their produce have played a significant role in the Irish diet. Taking a chronological approach, this presentation will explore the range of produce consumed from well know items like hazel and apple to more unusual food bearing trees like medlar. (Talk will take place in Education and Visitor Centre)

This regular open-mic literary event is held on the first Monday of every month and anyone can come along to read aloud one or more of your favourite pieces from literature at the event or you can even request that someone else reads your favourite piece, if you don’t want to. The literary pieces don’t have to be in English or in Irish. Recently an extract from Dante’s ‘Inferno’ was read in the original Italian and some piece from Lorca was first read in Spanish and then translated into English. Admission is free.

For further information contact Howard, who organises the event, on 085 2350530.

At the event “Different Paths, Shared Journey: Bringing Children and Books Together” iBbY Ireland is inviting you to a celebration of children’s literature with a selection of speakers who will share their experiences of working to bring children and books together.

Speakers are
+ Sarah Purcell
+Gráinne Clear
+Deirdre Sullivan
+ Tom Donegan

The event will be followed by iBbY Ireland’s Annual General Meeting.

Admission is free and all are welcome.

Phil Walker, corporate resource consultant and specialist will be speaking about how you can reduce your business energy costs. Booking is not explicitly requested, but it might be a good idea: 01-4597834

The bilingual book “Relatos míticos del mundo cotidiano/Mythical Tales of the Everyday World” by author Mercedes Aguirre will be launched. The author will be at the launch. Hot drinks will be served. Admission is free.

Every Monday, starting on 25 February, the SCOOP Foundation will be hosting Jurassic Paradiso, a free Classic Cinema Night for the community. The event, which will be held at the Generator Hostel and will help raise money for The SCOOP Foundation, a locally based charity that helps support children out of poverty in Cambodia and India.

During the event, attendees can watch a classic blockbuster such as Back To The Future, Jurassic Park, Jaws, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Terminator 2, etc. The movie of the week will be voted on before hand on the Facebook page and there will also be featured themed nights.

Free popcorn will be available and low priced food and drinks can be provided by the Generator Hostel. After the movie there will be a brief movie discussion if you are interested and 2 hours of tunes focused around the movie, it’s genre, and the decade it was made.

The SCOOP (Supporting Children Out Of Poverty) Foundation is an innovative and dedicated charity and endeavors to raise funds through their own unique events and ideas to build schools and opportunities for children caught in the poverty trap in Cambodia and India.

Need to wind down after a tiring week? Free Sahaja Yoga Meditation (not physical yoga, but “yoga meditation”!) classes every Monday from 19:00 in Blakestown Community Resource Centre (next to Lidl).

This is a drop in class, with newcomers are welcome.

‘Monsters of Creation: Snapshots of Women in Higher Education’ is an exhibition celebrating International Women’s Week and the launch of the Women’s Museum Of Ireland with Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness. The exhibition will open on Monday. Admission is free and all are welcome.

The Monday Echo is a weekly songwriter and poetry live showcase held on Mondays in the basement of The International Bar. Usually, the show has 3 songwriters and 3 poets who perform for roughly 20 minutes each. Admission is free.
The weekly line-up can be found via the Facebook Page below.

The Comedy Crunch is a free Stand Up comedy event every Sunday and Monday. Every week different comedians entertain and on top of good comedy you will get free ice cream. Admission is free. The line-up can be found via the Comedy Crunch Facebook Page (see link below).

The 4-piece band Loose Trad are performing every Monday in Mother Reilly’s. www.loosetrad.com/ Admission is free.

Every Monday, a mix of musicians from bands like The Seven Deadly Skins / Animal Cracker / Upbeat Generation / Crete Boom & more come together to play a free night of Rock & Reggae.

Jacquie Hudson, PR and Marketing expert and owner of Hudson Marketing, will be introducing you to the basics of doing your own businesses PR. This is an event of the Business Month series at Tallaght Library. It doesn’t state it explicitly, but I would expect that booking is required, so ring 01-4620073

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

“Pathways to peace: lessons learned Northern Ireland for the current Colombian peace process.” is a joint event organized in conjunction with the UCD Institute for British-­?Irish Studies (IBIS), The Latin American Solidarity Centre (LASC) and UCD School of Politics and International Relations (SPIRe). This open roundtable discussion will examine the ongoing Colombian peace process in light of Northern Irish experiences of conflict and peace-­?building. We will explore what lessons can be learned and experiences shared from both in order to ensure a lasting, sustainable and inclusive peace.

The Irish Wildlife Trust Dublin Branch continues with their monthly Green Drinks Dublin meetings on the first Tuesday of every month, where like minded people discuss green issues. This month come along and find out about two of the Irish Wildlife Trust’s key campaigns for sustainable seas and an end to the cull of Irish badgers.

Sustainable Seas: There has been significant progress towards ending overfishing since the IWT first started the Sustainable Seas campaign in 2010 but lots more needs to be done. Pádraic Fogarty, IWT Campaigns Officer, will give some background to the problem, what has been achieved so far, and what needs to be done to reach the goal of a healthy marine environment.

Ireland’s Badgers – fighting a losing battle? – The war on BovineTb (Btb) has always been an emotive issue. It has pitted farmers and conservationists against each other since Btb was first discovered in badgers in the early seventies. Hear Fintan Kelly explain the campaign and conflict, Ireland’s total disregard for the Bern convention, the failure of the Bern Standing Committee to carry out its mandate to protect the badger, and how the issue is being tackled by our nearest neighbours.

Green Drinks Dublin will take place on the top floor of Messrs Maguire and admission is free, but booking is required via dublinbranch@iwt.ie

Do you want to improve your public speaking and leadership skills in a fun and supportive environment? Then this event could be perfect for you: The IE Temple Bar Toastmasters club meet every second Tuesday in the Temple Bar Hotel. And guests are invited to come for free for their first two club visit and you even get tea/coffee and biscuits.

Guests can take part in the Table Topics session where impromptu speaking skills are practised and you can sit back in the second half of the meeting and enjoy the speeches and evaluations. If you discover that the club is your cup of tea then you can join for a recession-busting subscription fee. When you go there, tell them that you found out about it in the Dublin Event Guide! ;-)

A lecture by Dr Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, jointly organised by the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Studies (the School of Languages, Literature and Cultural Studies TCD) and Frontline Defenders, in association with the Trinity Long Room Hub.

Admission is free and all are welcome

“NDRC’s Inventorium Open Mic Idea Jam is your chance to shout about that idea. You can just come along to watch or to pitch your idea to a knowledgeable and friendly audience in a relaxed atmosphere. You will have 3 minutes to stand up and bravely pitch your most inspired and imaginative idea to an audience that will include everyone from venture capitalists to curious passers-by, who will ask questions and give you instant feedback.”

Admission is free, but registration is required.

As part of Seachtain na Gaeilge, The Irish Language Week from 04-17 March, the Irish Writers’ Centre invites to an Evening of Poetry and Music, featuring poets Gabriel Rosenstock and Aifric Mac Aodha reading their work. There will also be music with Irish-speaking musicians, light refreshments and author Mícheál Ó Ruairc will be the MC.

The website says “All welcome” but that doesn’t mean necessarily that the event is free. So I am not sure if it is and you might want to check before hand on 01-8721302

This is an open mic night with Special Guests. Arrive, sign in (from 19:00) and play and if you are a performer you get a free beer. Admission is free.

The Workmans Den Cinema Club presents “Hunger Games”. Doors at 19:00, Movie starts at 20:00. Admission is free.

The Plateau Sessions is an open mic night that features some special guest acts from all over Ireland. Admission is free.

Open Mic Night with The Last Tycoons in O’Donoghue’s on Suffolk Street every Tues from 20:00. It’s free and anyone can get up, sing a song or do whatever they like.

White Chocolate is playing Rock Covers from 23:30 in The Mezz in Temple Bar.

Entry charges at nearly all OPW sites are waived once a month. The Office of Public Works (OPW) launched an initiative last year to encourage more people to visit the historic sites that it manages and this initiative is continuing on all First Wednesdays in 2013. Most sites can already be visited for free, but the sites that normally charge a fee will now be free every first Wednesday until the end of the year.
In the (extended) Greater Dublin Area this will affect the following sites:
+ The Casino, Marino
+ Dublin Castle, State Apartments (closed until 01 July)
+ Kilmainham Gaol
+ Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre at Newgrange
+ Glendalough Visitor Centre in Wicklow

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

The IFI continues with its free Archive at Lunchtime screenings on three days every week in February.
The Double Bill on Saturdays is described here:
02+9+16+13+30 March: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-double-bill-9/
The Monday/Wednesday programmes are here
04+13+18+27 March: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-1-25/
06+11+20+25 March: www.ifi.ie/film/archive-at-lunchtime-programme-2-24/

The Annual Augustine Henry Forestry Lecture: “Are Ireland’s Trees Under Threat from Pest and Diseases?” with Dr. Alistair Mc Cracken, Applied Plant Science & Biometrics Division, Agri-Food & Biosciences Institutewill take place.

The last twenty years has seen an explosion of diseases and pests attacking our trees and forests. The threat from unwanted pests and diseases is very real on our small island. Climate change and globalisation has resulted in the appearance of new and often devastating problems.

The “Havana International Language Exchange” is taking place every Wed from 16:30-19:30 in Havana Tapas Bar in George’s Street. There are many Spanish speakers and English-speakers are explicitly invited, but everyone else is certainly very welcome too, to meet for a chat to improve your Spanish or English.

The Spanish Film “Amateurs” by director Gabriel Velazquez will be shon in the film series “New Directors: Spanish Emerging Filmmakers”. Admission is free. The film will be in Spanish with English subtitles.

‘Between the ‘Blue Card’ and Circular Migration: The Crisis of the EU’s Immigration Policy for Third-country Nationals’, a lecture by Prof Binod Khadria (Jawaharial Nehru University) will take place as part of the Euro-Visions Public Lecture Series on Europe.

Barring the United Kingdom and Ireland, the rest of Europe has traditionally been known as ‘fortress Europe’ so far as its links of migration with the outside world is concerned. Europe has however moved away from this position of being closed to immigrants, apparently borrowing from the experience of the UK and Ireland in being open to migration to and from the third-countries.

For one night only there will be Student Lock-in in the Jervis Street Shopping Centre with discounts, special offers and entertainment. If you are a student and you want to go, register here www.darius1.com/3522/67917 and fnd more details here www.facebook.com/events/211983338947151/ and here www.facebook.com/jervisshoppingcentre

The rest of us is not allowed in. Sniff, sniff! So I won’t describe too much it would only make you more jealous! ;-)

“Roses Pawn Shop” will perform in Live from the Window in the Front Bar of Whelan’s. Admission is free.

A Speaker from Ahaztuak (The Forgotten), formed in 2005, will speak for victims of fascism in the Basque Country 1936-1977.
Ahaztuak work on achieving their plan/proposals for peace, reparations and justice for the victims of the coup d’etat, repression and the fascist regime. The event is part of the Basque Solidarity Week.

The information about the event doesn’t state if there is an admission charge and there have been previous events of the Basque Solidarity Committee that appeared free but were not, so be warned.

The King Kong Club is a weekly music game-show in the Mercantile. Each week 6-7 bands/solo artists play three songs each. At the end of all the performances a clap-off with the King Kong Club Clap-o-Meter takes place and the winner goes through to a semi-final and it all culminates after six months of competition with The Grand Final, held in front of a panel of celebrity judges.

The list of performers is not yet announced on their Facebook Page and I am not sure if it will be put up there, but check it anyway.

Toastmasters help you to improve your public speaking and communication skills in social or work settings and enable you to develop the skills required for impromptu speaking. At Clontarf-Marino Toastmasters, you’ll discover a friendly and supportive atmosphere that will give you all the encouragement you need to become a confident communicator.

They meet every 2nd Wednesday and you are invited to come, listen, have a chat and a coffe without any obligation or cost. For more information contact clonmartm@gmail.com or call 086 3693920.

“The Song Room” is another open mic event. It takes place in The Globe in George’s Street at 20:30 every Wednesday.

“The Zodiac Sessions” is a regular open mic event from 20:30 in Bruxelles (between Grafton Street and Westbury Hotel) for unsigned musicians. Admission is free and there is a different line-up every week.

Bad Boy Jake are every Wednesday in the Gypsy Rose Rock & Blues Bar playing their rock, blues and American.

Traditional Irish Music Session in Hedigan’s (The Brian Boru) in Phibsborough from 21:30 every Wednesday. If you play an instrument you are especially welcome (all levels are welcome).

On Thursday 07 March the next World Book Day takes place. In Ireland thousands of children will get a EUR 1.50 book voucher from their local bookshops. That voucher is enough to buy one of the specially produced World Book Day books. Readings and events will be taking place in numerous bookshps.

Check out the website www.worldbookday.com for competitions, activities, recommendations and the World Book Day Facebook page is at www.facebook.com/WBDIreland

The National Gallery Curators appraise paintings, prints and drawings brought into the Gallery for free. The Picture Clinic takes place on the first Thursday of every month (except August and January) and no appointments necessary.

The Ferocious Mingle Marcade (Market and Arcade) place every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday it is a fancy dress market. It’s a flea-market type permanent market with stalls and “chalets” for traders. The Oscar Verne Café on site and (at least at the weekends) live music adds even more character.

The National Gallery has an extensive programme of free talks, public tours and Art Documentary screenings focusing on highlights of the European and Irish Collection every day of the week. Check their website for details.

The Dublin Food Co-op is open every Thursday at Newmarket for organic wholefoods and sustainable household products, plus over a dozen producer stalls offering organic fruit and veg., baked goods, dairy produce, wines, hot and cold food, etc.
The Co-op is also opened on Saturdays 09:30 – 16:30. 12:00-20:00.

Muireann Mulrooney (soprano) and Trudi Carberry (piano) will perform a lunchtime recital with pieces from Händel, Schumann, Chausson, Poulenc and others. Admission is free, donations are welcome.

Using traditional and modern methods and materials children will handcraft their own mini hardback book which they will decorate and personalise with fun craft materials such as feathers, sequins, ribbon and fancy paper. Suitable for ages 8-12. Admission is free, but booking is required.

Ratmines Library is the venue for the launch of the new InRathmines website, which was developed by media students at the Rathmines College of Further Education. It is a community website advertising local events and businesses in Rathmines.

In 2000, Dr. Hill and Prof. Patrick Cunningham published one of the first molecular genetic research studies of Thoroughbreds that identified errors in The General Stud Book. In 2009 she published the first description of the genes that contribute to the Thoroughbred athletic physique.

Dr Emmeline Hill is a co-founder and Chairman of Equinome. She is one of Ireland’s most prominent genomics scientists and leads the Equine Exercise Genomics research group at the College of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, where she is a lecturer in Equine Science.

Inspired by First Thursdays carried out in London, First Thursdays Dublin is the name given to cultural spaces opening their doors after hours and offering an extra chance to see art, culture and events in a number of venues from 18:00-20:00 on the first Thursday of every month. In the meantime 49 galleries and venue are taking part and it is getting bigger and bigger. It is like a Culture Night for Galleries! ;-) www.facebook.com/FirstThursdaysDublin

“Reform and Rebellion: Irish Nationalist Women, 1912-1918” is a BiblioFiles Lecture about Ireland’s women revolutionaries with Dr Senia Paseta, University of Oxford on the eve of International Women’s Day. Admission is free and no booking is required.

The talk is part of a monthly lecture series called BiblioFiles. The series provides a platform for writers, academics and others who have used the NLI’s facilities to talk about their research and other work they have carried out at the library.

Senia Paseta is Junior Research Fellow at Merton College, Oxford. Her Books include ‘Modern Ireland’, ‘Ireland and the Great War’, ‘Before the Revolution: Nationalism, Social Change’ ‘Ireland’s Catholic Elite, 1879 – 1922’ and ‘Thomas Kettle ‘.

The Dublin Writers’ Forum welcomes writers of all genres, of all ages and all levels of experience. DWF is an open group of writers who share a common passion for all things literary. It is a safe ‘working space’ where on a weekly basis writers can bring their work to be critiqued by other writers.

Dimestore Recordings run a weekly event in Sweeney Mongrel’s, Dame Street (formerly Le Cirk) with a variety of bands and performers. It starts at 20:00, follow the link for the line up.

Bad Boy Jake are every Thursday until the end of February in the newly re-opened Rathmines Inn, playing their rock, blues and Americana.

Jaime Nanci & The Blue Boys are playing a weekly gig in the Mercantile Hotel on Thursdays. Their music is swing, blues, bebop and doo wop. Admission is free.

The Max Zaska group and the Patrick Groenland group will perform on alternating Thursdays from 21:00 in the International Bar on 23 Wicklow Street.

“Thirsty Thursday” Open Mic Night from 21:00 in the Bridge Inn in Chapelizod Village.

Every Thursday “Left Right & Centre” play a mix of blues & soul with a bit of rock&roll.

“Fox Jaw Bounty Hunters” will perform at the Midnight Hour in Whelan’s. Admission is free before 22:30 and the gig will start at midnight.

The International Women’s Day takes place on Friday and some venues run special events on the day, for example the Hugh Lane Gallery.

The Digital Dublin Day will take place on Fri 08 March. Details are still a little sparse, but to make sure that you will find out about it and know as much as possible about the activities on the day, I will list here the list of planned/intentional events and if you go to m.dublineventguide.com during the coming week, I will try to update the information as it emerges so that you should have most deails available on Friday.

The goal is to have a “basecamp” on the forecourt in front of the Mansion House but also to have other activities in other locations around the City Centre.

Activities planned for Mansion House basecamp include:

– Free Public WiFi in local area
– Coder Dojo involving local schoolchildren with James Whelton.
– ‘Apps for Fingal’ display showcasing the use of Open data
– eCommerce demonstrations.
– Electric Cars onsite and available for test drive (prebooking required)
– Creation of digital stories via StoryMap
– The story of the Mansion House via StoryMap
– Bloggers onsite blogging about digital in the city.
– Techspace editing and displaying video interviews with citizens recorded on the day.
– Onsite survey re digital with real time display of results.
– WiFi provider Gowex on site
– International Womens day ‘vibes of Ireland’ Twitter visualisation.(International Womens’ Day March 8th)
– Soundwave.me displaying what music local DigiDubs are listening to
– ‘Digital’ talks with James Whelton, Johnny Ryan and others.

About the city activities include:
– Libraries mobile bus: Create a digital memory; scan of old photos for silver surfers.
– Digitise the nation bus: Mobile eLearning
– Video interviews recorded with citizens at WiFi locations;
– Digital treasure trail with StortMap
– Presence at accenture International Womens Day event RDS.
– Digital Workshops for young and older people at the Digital Hub.

The International Women’s Day Public Tour “Celebrating Female Artists” is taking place in the Hugh Lane Gallery with Guide Michelle Doyle. Admission is free, but places are limited so arrive early.

BIMÍS AG SIÚL AGUS AG CAINT – Celebrate International Women’s Day with Dublin City Council’s Irish language walking group as they visit Leinster House where they’ll be meeting with Independent Dublin Central TD Maureen O’Sullivan and receiving a tour of the Houses of the Oireachtas. This event is free and no advance booking necessary.

Idir Mná presents a series of new play readings at 13:00, 15:00 and 16:00 in conjunction with the International Womens Day. Not all the playwrights are female but all plays celebrate women. Admission is free, but booking via idirmna@gmail.com is required. There will be two readings on Friday and three on Saturday and the website provides the details.

The National Business Expo will take place from Fri 08-Sat 09 March in the Industries Hall (Hall4) of the RDS. The Expo offers an Exhibition with over 80 exhibitors, Seminars and Workshops for Start-Ups and SMEs wanting to Start, Grow or Export. If you are working on a business idea and need some further information, help and support, check go to this expo.

Tickets are free if you register online at www.businessexpo.ie but are EUR 10 at the door. Opening hours are 13:00-18:00 on Friday and 11:00-17:00 on Saturday.

Digital Dublin Day is an initiative of Dublin City Council, and will see activities and events taking place throughout Dublin City on Friday 08 March.

One of these a activities is a free workshop for anybody who wants to learn how to use Skype, maybe to talk to the children or grandchildren who live away from home. The workshop will provide hands-on, practical information on everything you need to know to use Skype. Instructors will walk you through setting up Skype on your computer, adding contacts and making calls. Bring along the contact information for your loved ones abroad and you can Skype them live from the workshop for the very first time.

Admission to the workshop is free, but youhave to register with Louise Morgan in The Digital Hub: Tel: 01-4806200 or Email: lmorgan@thedigitalhub.com.

The course takes place from 13:00-14:00 or from 15:00-16:00

“Women, Violence and Social Change” is the title of this public lecture with Dr. Melanie Hoewer, UCD SPIRe and IBIS. Admission is free. It will take place in G317 of the Newman Building. www.tcd.ie/tidi, or www.ucd.ie/hdi/

Selina Guinness will be in the IWC for a lunchtime reading.

Her memoir “The Crocodile by the Door”, her first novel novel, recounts the trials and tribulations of farming valuable land on the edge of Dublin at the height of the property boom. Selina has also edited an anthology of Irish poetry published by Bloodaxe, called “The New Irish Poets.”.

Admission is free.

A Butoh Dance Workshop with performance Ambra G. Bergamasco and Enda Moran (sound scapes) will take place on Friday. The title is “MUD- Tsuchi kara umareta” and everybody is welcome. Admission is free and no previous experience is required.

“Butoh dance is a non-representational dance of which movements stem out from visualization and internal movements.
The night will offer a Butoh dance workshop of 1.5 hrs followed by a performance. The workshop will explore the themes of the performance and provides the necessary codes to understand the process that a Butoh piece is involved with, this in order to facilitate and develop the understanding of the dance form. The themes related to this event are those of mud, fire water and springing of newness.”

The Addison Lodge are inviting local bands, musicians, poets, comedians and performers to share their talents at the new Addison Lodge Open Mic Nights in Glasnevin (opposite the Botanic Gardens). The event starts on Friday 22 February and will take place every week. Admission is free.

“The Vincent(s)” are performing at the Midnight Hour in Whelan’s. Admission is free before 22:30 and the gig will start at midnight.

The next French Friday will take place on 08 March. Expect electro, house and drum n bass/dubstep tunes, free admission and lots of French and francophile people.