Tips and tricks for getting through the summer.

Inside track

For people who are going to a warmer climate and want to protect their hair, we would recommend products that are specifically designed to cope with salt water and chlorine, such as Soleil. Use moisturisers because hair can be dried out by the sun. If not treated it can become brittle and breakable, so protein-packed moisturisers such as Richesse are best. Avoid home remedies - it's best to use professional products because they are proven to work.

Mark O'Keefe, manager of Peter Mark, St Stephen's Green shopping centre, Dublin

Cool for kids

The Dún Laoghaire Festival of World Cultures celebrates cultural diversity through an extravaganza of internationally acclaimed acts including music (such as Nigerian group Adun Oyin, above), film, circus, theatre, dance, exhibitions, workshops and children's activities. Much of the programme is free, and it features many children's workshops offering insights into the music, dress and lifestyles of varied cultures. The festival runs from August 27th to August 29th. Tel: 01 204 7273.

Louise Holden

Watch out

Tidelines in August can be just as interesting as those after winter storms. Gentler waves deliver shells of astonishing beauty and fragility - those of the violet sea snail, for example, a predatory companion of the little Velella, or the by-the-wind-sailor, a tiny, dark-blue jellyfish with an iridescent flap that acts as a sail. Velella sometimes drifts on to our Atlantic coasts in thousands - even millions - but the violet sea snail rarely lands intact.

Michael Viney

Stars and gripes

Andrea Roche, model

Best holiday: Last summer we drove around the US, and that was one of my most enjoyable holidays. We went to Beverly Hills and Malibu for a few days and then to Las Vegas. There we actually managed to win back the cost of the holiday, which was a good part.

Worst holiday: Last year my boyfriend and I booked a trip to the Monaco Grand Prix. After a mix-up, we only managed to find a place in Nice. When we got to the hotel it looked like a building site. The walls had holes and the receptionist was smoking. Somebody had used our room without being checked and the rest of the hotel was booked out.

- In conversation with Fiachra Ó Cionnaith

 Off the shelf

The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor, Penguin, £7.99 in UK

This haunting fable of fate and roads not taken is already a classic. In 1921, the child Lucy Gault goes missing on the eve of her family's departure from Ireland. The story of what happens to her and hers afterwards unfolds with bittersweet delicacy. Trevor writes beautifully about people bound together in unlikely ways. In particular, his portraits of Lucy and the old couple who look after her are unforgettable. A modern masterpiece.

Rosita Boland

Get out

Where to go, what to see: For entertainment listings, see The Ticket, every Friday in The Irish Times, or go to www.ireland.com/ theticket

For other events see the What's On column in the main paper every Thursday and the Saturday magazine