The Mountains to the Sea festival returns to Dun Laoghaire on the 7th to the 12th of Sept. While it lacks the star attractions of last year where Paul Auster and his wife Siri Hustvedt each gave readings, it still has a strong line up of mostly Irish writers.

The best of the ticketed events are Pat McCabe in conversation with Hugo Hamilton, Joesph O’Connor in conversation with Clair Kilroy, a panel discussion on the middle east with Robert Fisk, DBC Pierre in conversation with Andrew O’Hagan, and also John Banville and Alex Miller. A few good bits and bobs!