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France's favourite republican fairytale
Rachida Dati's appointment as French justice minister was a stroke of political genius by president Nicolas Sarkozy. A trained lawyer and magistrate, she is also young, female, from an underprivileged background and a member of France's largest minority. She is not, however, Cinderella, she assures Lara Marlowe p

Paperclip tiger
Kyle MacDonald had a plan - start small, think big and have fun. Róisín Ingle meets the Canadian entrepreneur who took a red paperclip and turned it into a house p

Setting the scene
Set designers are the invisible stars of theatre, creating worlds for the actors to inhabit. One of the best, Eileen Diss, tells Arminta Wallace about her art and inspiration p

Camp it up
They're travellers, not tourists, and they've been there, done that. Melosina Lenox-Conyngham goes on expedition with some seasoned adventurers p
Pen pals
We love pork, each of us eating nearly 40kg of it a year, but we rarely seem bothered about the way pigs are farmed. Michael Kelly decided to get to know two of them p

Opening lines
Getting grisly Based on the terrifying Papin murders, which took place in France during the early 19th-century, The Maids is a play of violence, jealousy and thwarted love. Directed by Jason Byrne and starring Phil Kingston, Karl Quinn and Deirdre Roycroft, it is running in Project Arts Centre until July 21st. Fascinated by the Papin murders, Jean Genet crafted his play with the passion and the tragedy of his own life and relationships. Space Upstairs, Project Arts Centre, 8pm, €20/€14 p
My big week
Xavier De Bustos , organising a fund-raiser on Bastille Day p
What's going on

July 14th-20th
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Planet matters
Jane Powers on keeping it local p
I made it myself
Graham Cruz , stylist p

Days like this...
I was going to write about the weather. It was an obvious subject when I sat down to fill this space this morning. Everybody's talking about it. p

Il Primo, Dublin
Eating out: If I had done a ranking of the worst value restaurants in Dublin a year or so ago, there would have been some jostling for pole position. After all, the laurels could equally apply to a modest cafe as a posh restaurant. Really crap value doesn't always mean expensive. p
Some like it hot
Eating in: In summer it's hard to resist the more strident flavours, writes Hugo Arnold p
New wave Rioja
Fresh takes on an old favourite p
Vive la France
In honour of Bastille Day, Catherine Cleary cooks up an easy, crowd-friendly feast of Gallic favourites p
Ask the expert
It doesn't get more French than French onion soup and in Chez Max, a small French bistro on Palace Street beside Dublin Castle, they serve this as part of the early bird menu, where two courses cost €19 a head. It is perfect food for cooler evenings like the ones we have been getting this summer. Chef Terence Chodaton says this quantity will make enough soup for 10 people. p

Modern moment
John Butler finds himself in a game of blackjack with Vinnie Jones p

Bleu blanc rouge
At the height of the sale season, and in time for Bastille Day, Catherine Condell took herself to Kildare Village to hunt for bargains. p
About face
Give your hair a summer holiday, writes Phyl Clarke p
Clothesline
Vintage buyers While William Doyle of Newbridge Silver certainly made headlines spending €160,000 on a pink Givenchy dress for his new Museum of Style Icons, not all vintage clothing achieves such stratospheric prices. p

Emo in wonderland
A garden show suffused with 'unfettered creativity', some art, some entertainment, and not a judge in sight. It's all happening at Emo Court in Co Laois, writes Jane Powers p
Watch his space
Gerard Mullen has hit the ground running. Or perhaps I should say he has hit it measuring and designing and digging and planting. Since finishing his three-year honours degree course in horticulture at Waterford Institute of Technology in May (from which he graduated with distinction), the Dungarvan designer has completed two assured and meticulous show gardens. p

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