this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. coming up on this week's rouramme: �* t, , ends up getting a gorgonzola cheese sandwich, you know, which even now is sort of fairly hip to the groove, you know? there's a seal over there also looking for his dinner. right, well, uh, it's night time. not only am i staying in the same house, i'm actually going to be sleeping in the very room that he had as a child. hey, hey!

hey! i think we can gather there's no shortage of options for the ladies here. hello and welcome to the travel show, where this week we're looking back on some of our favourite stories from the island of ireland. it's a place that tourists have flocked to for years to enjoy the stunning countryside, a certain brand of stout best served with the chill taken off. and an even warmer welcome from the locals, who are renowned for their love of language and a good craic. let's kick off our look back at our adventures on the emerald isle with the time i visited dublin

to follow in the footsteps of one of the country's most well—known authors, whose most famous work is still as acclaimed today as when it was first published more than 100 years ago. dublin, a unesco city of literature that has produced a host of famous writers, from samuel beckett to oscar wilde. but i am here puzzling over one particular novel that's made the irish capital a must visit destination for any book lover. and that book is ulysses byjamesjoyce. now, even though it's widely regarded as being one of the finest pieces of literature of the 20th century, it's also notoriously difficult to read. now, i've tried, and i must admit i've failed too, but i am told that if you invest in it, if you flow with its stream of consciousness, it's extremely rewarding.

set over a single day, ulysses follows two characters, leopold bloom and stephen dedalus, on their journeys across dublin. today, there are guided tours that follow their footsteps and help readers make sense of it all. this is david byrne�*s pub. it's like one of the set pieces in ulysses. bloom goes in there, ends up getting a gorgonzola cheese sandwich, you know, which even now is sort of fairly hip to the groove, you know. sweeney's pharmacy is one of the landmarks featured in ulysses, and today it's run by a group of volunteers as a tribute to jamesjoyce. and they all looked. was a sheet lightning? it was darker now, and there were stones and bits -

of wood on the strand. a fair, unsullied soul had called to him. now, as then, no reasonable offer refused. these readings moved online during the pandemic, but even though the shops open again, they continue to have people tune in from all over the world. the chemist turned back page after page, living all the day amongst herbs, ointments, disinfectants, all his alabaster lilly pots. no idea how i read that, but thanks for listening. it was beautiful. that's what we do here, we read it out loud. you know, we have people here from different nationalities, different parts of ireland, and you hear it in all sorts of sort of music, if you like. butjoyce would have loved that. make it easy to understand and get into it. yeah, because it's a book that you grow up hearing about in ulysses and that it's supposedly so difficult. it's a really nice feeling to suddenly be sitting here and it is accessible. and if you want tojoin in, you can find more information on the sweeney's website.

well, we're leaving the capital city behind now and heading to the county of cork, which has earned a reputation as the place that you'll find some of the best food to eat in the country. and a few years ago, we asked local girl kate hardy buckley to explain why. welcome to west cork. this is the mizen peninsula, the most south—westerly tip of the island of ireland. i've been coming to this part of the world since i was eight years old. people are drawn here by the dramatic scenery, the arts, and the great craic. and now they're flocking here for the local cuisine. west cork was recently voted ireland's food capital. the history of the areas is as rich and diverse as its food. along the coast you'll find caves where pirates smuggled their treasures.

it's where marconi sent the first transatlantic radio transmission to america. and it was here the first famine death was recorded, the first of over a million across ireland, with a further two million people emigrating. so this is the skibbereen saturday market. at the height of summer, i think maybe the best market anywhere in the country. this is the freshest mozzarella available in ireland right now. it's like lactic poetry. april makes the most astonishing potions. tillandsia. when we think of vinegars, we think of something that's harsh and aggressive and that's gentle. obviously, i can taste the apple. mhm. but there's like a berry taste to it or something like that. maybe even the whisky. whisky. bit early for the whisky. yeah.

# walking my baby down by the san francisco bay. # the skibbereen market continues to slowly - but organically grow and get better. people i think, are really realising more and more that the essence of a real experience is when it's grounded in local foods and that's what you want, whether you're in bangkok or tuscany or in west cork. i've come to meet the fergusons who run gubbeen, one of the original irish cheese farmhouses here, and they play a huge role on the west cork food scene. gina and herfamily have been making their award winning cheese for the last a0 years. and is this sort of where you begin creating the flavours and the texture? in a way, although i think the real start of the story is the soil. and of course, the big flavour is once the cheeses are made and they start to ferment. this is heavier than you'd think. oh, my goodness. the smells are incredible. there you are, the finished products.

i think if you're in new york or if you're in paris or wherever we export to and you come across this, what are you going to feel or smell is west cork. that's what i love about this. jaina's children are the latest generation working the land. fingal makes the charcuteries with over 100 different products. the fergusons and other west cork food makers account for 75% of artisan producers across the country. in west cork, not only do you get to taste great food, but you also get the chance to find and explore new ingredients. it's beautiful down here. here we go. jim and maria kennedy run sea kayaking trips all along the coast, where you get to forage for your own food. out on the atlantic

looking for dinner. and we don't have to look far. when you start to investigate, they become like friends. you just see, oh, there, look, there's the oarweed coming up, and over here, the sea spaghetti, it's it's absolutely amazing. for ireland's coastal communities, seaweed has long been a staple food. it has everything you need, it has minerals, it has vitamins, all the b vitamins that we spend, you know, 20, e30 buying across the shelf — it's all in here. there's a seal over there also looking for his dinner. hello, buddy. so, what is on my seaweed board? we have some dulce, carrageen, another traditional favourite. we have seagrass, beautiful green, also known as spirulina. i recognise that one. and then for something completely different,

the queen of all seaweeds, or maybe the king, pepper dulce, the truffle of the sea. that's extraordinary. peppery such a bite to it, such a kick. even in the famine, people ate seaweed, but i think then it was, it became associated with poverty and hunger. and now people are beginning to rediscover the amazing properties of seaweed. anyone who knows me well will tell you that i absolutely love football. i've got a long list of sporting heroes from the beautiful game, but at the very top, along with the legendary pele, is george best, the lad from belfast who took the football world by storm back in the late 1960s and early 70s, playing for my beloved manchester united. so that's why this next story was like a dream come true — and a little bit surreal,

if i'm totally honest. waiting to receive was mighty best. he simply walked the ball into the net. what a goal! united in the lead! he was a key part of the iconic manchester united team that, in 1968, became the first english side to win the european cup. president of the european union of football associations handed it over. and off the pitch he was just as famous for his glamourous, hard partying lifestyle, which led to the nickname — the fifth beatle. and it all began here in belfast�*s craigie estate, where fans now have the chance to stay at his childhood home. hello, you must be peter. iam. welcome to george best's house. come on in. thank you very much.

wow. so this is the main room. the bests would have lived in this house from 1948. so we've recently put the house back to, as it would have been in 1961, when george first went over to manchester as a 15 year old in search of fame and fortune. so that's his mother? yes. this photograph then shows george with his mother, annie, and this photograph was taken on his parent's 25th silver wedding anniversary. so they've been stood in this very room. i mean, this is a 20th century legend, icon and he would have been here in that picture there. how easy was it to source this kind of furniture? itjust came from a number of sources, local charity shops and antique dealers, etc. the bests were the only family to live in this house. george's mother, anne, died in 1978, but his father, dickie, lived here for 60 years

until his death in 2008. so this is the kitchen. this is the kitchen, yes. again, done as it would have been in 1961. it's very much retrofitted. so we have the belfast sink here. and even the modern units like the fridge freezer have got a retro feel about them. wow. this isn't from 1961, though, is it? no, no, you can eat those and be and be safe, yeah. the house was bought by a local nonprofit group called eastside partnership, and in its new retro furnished state is now available as a holiday rental. so all the proceeds that we get from the use of this house are used to support other community projects in east belfast. tourists have come here and tell me what their reaction has been like. oh, the reaction has been fantastic. a lot of manchester united fans would stay here, but also just local people who just want the opportunity to see the house and stay

in the house as well. so peter's gone and here i am. this retro stuff is incredible. i mean, this was a guy who i pretty well worshipped as a child. so to be in his house, this... ..shrine, really is, is it's throwing me, to be honest with you. this year, the partnership has introduced an audio tourfeaturing memories from george's sister, barbara. when mum and dad first moved in, it was much smaller as there was... but peter has gone one better for my stay and organised a visit from barbara herself. there's a picture there. together with george's childhood friend, robin. that's me. yeah? yeah. and there is you know who. what do you think, barbara, of the idea that people can come here and stay the night?

in his later years, george suffered a very public battle with alcoholism. but up until his death in 2005, this house was always a refuge. 16 burren way, here in the craigie estate was where he was brought up, and this was where he felt safe. we tried to protect him, and george knew that when he came here, he wasn't open to the media scrutiny, that he would be in across the water. isn't that right, barbara? he felt safe. yes. right, well, uh, it's night time, and it feels a bit

intrusive, but anyway, this is obviously one of the bedrooms where the family lived in. but not only am i staying in the same house and actually going to be sleeping in the very room that he had as a child. it's a kind of medium sized room, the kind of room that any 12 year old, 13—year—old boy would have, i guess. i wonder what he would have made of this. hopefully, you would have found it quite funny. right, it's time for me to get some sleep. although i'm not completely tired yet, i need some reading material. and i think this should do the trick. good night. well, that's almost it for our look back at stories from the emerald isle. but before we go, here's

a story harking back to the old days, long before online dating and apps. when the matchmaker was a key figure in rural ireland, and there's one place in the west of the country where every year they still are. as krista found out when she went looking for love. the lisdoonvarna matchmaking festival is europe's largest singles event, attracting up to 60,000 people each year. it's been a local tradition for over 160 years. the festival was originally designed to help find wives for lonely farmers at the end of the harvest season. for the past half century, willy daley has been the town's matchmaker in chief, using skills passed down from his father and grandfather. these days, the matching is less about dowries and property and more about finding true love. most of my matchmaking has been

a little bit different than my grandfather and father and i do enjoy doing it. that's why when i introduce people, i try to have a little bit of magic there. you know, that when the person is coming towards you, you say, that's the man i want to spend the rest of my life with. it's very much an irish thing, maybe, but it's certainly people from other parts of the world do join with me. we have a lot of people from england, a certain amount from germany, quite a lot from america. willie says his secret is the book he carries with him, where the details of potential matches have been kept for generations. now this book looks like it's seen better days. oh, it has, yeah. it's approximately around 150 or 60 years old. you know, when you come to that, you can't be counting. it's a love book, and it's a lucky book. if you touch the book with both hands, you're going to be in love and married inside of six months. if you touch it with just one hand, you're

going to be in love. willie claims his book has helped him spark 3000 marriages, and with statistics like that, it's perhaps not surprising that his services draw hopefuls from far and wide. back in town, the crowds are arriving and a little after 11 in the morning, the alcohol is already in full flow. events are held up and down the village, but the main centre of matchmaking activity is here at the aptly named matchmaker bar. this is where willie sets out his stall. the process is this... would you like to have children if all goes well? i think so, eventually, yeah. in time. punters fill out their details and tell willie about themselves and what they'd like in a partner. i have you down there now as good looking and nice? 0h, go on.

then once the 20 euros fee is paid, willie will attempt to find them a match. is little farmer has his own farm near the sea. 0k. but in the days when many people meet their future partner online, why do people still put their faith in willie and his traditional ways? i had my doubts, i might still have doubts, but i thought i would give it a whirl. why not? the festival may boost the number of locals finding partners, but it's also a serious boost for the local economy, bringing in up to 3 euros million each year. this festival is the lifeblood of lisdoonvarna. it's like the one month of the year when all the businesses kind of like geared towards this festival. in september it's like the whole place is just transformed. so, like, a lot of the sort of b&bs would be like very, very quiet during the year, they'd like be nobody here. they would make enough money in september to keep them

going for the whole year. so it has a massive effect and it's only getting bigger. not everyone attending the festival is single. many couples who met here in years past returned to celebrate and dance the night and day away. # please help me, i'm falling. # but most of the folk i here are looking for love. we want to find the one. do you want to find the one? so far we haven't found it. but do you know what? there's such a good buzz around, there's a great atmosphere. the matchmaking community is brilliant. so we would like to find someone with a bit of land, nice personality, not bad looking. yeah not bad looking. we're not fussy, but you have to find the right match. he's not bad! hey, hey! i think we can gather there's no shortage of options for the ladies here. is there anybody out there? yes!

lisdoonvarna provides plenty of opportunity for some drunken fun, but finding love is far from guaranteed. and willie's success isn't guaranteed. after a few minutes, the first couple's eyes have already wandered. # i don't know what she's done to me... j # but here in the matchmaking capital, lisdoonvarna _ hope springs eternal. so i'm hoping that by the time i leave here, he will keep his word and i will meet someone. because that was the whole reason for me coming here.

hey, i'm zoph with the catch up. tonight, the latest with mpox, the premier league is back, and baby cubs see the outside. first, you might have seen a lot of talk about mpox. it's the disease most commonly found in africa and is usually spread through close contact. most people recover, but an outbreak in the democratic republic of congo has killed over a50 people. the world health organization has declared a global emergency, and one case of a new strain has been found in sweden. health officials here are making plans to deal with any cases but say

the risk is low. next, the story of 13—year—old hannah jacobs, who died after an allergic reaction to a hot chocolate bought at costa. an inquest has found staff at a branch in barking, in east london, didn't follow its process for dealing with hannah's dairy intolerance and there was a failure in communication. hannah's mum wants places like coffee shops to have better awareness of allergies. costa says the loss of hannah is a tragedy and has listened to everything the coroner has said. some other stories — some other stories now. the premier league is back. ed sheeran has got involved as well. he's bought a stake in newly promoted ipswich, so you might see him in the exec box there and ed's been a very busy man. he joined taylor swift at wembley on thursday for her eras tour. they performed their songs everything has changed and endgame.

and time now for 10s of rare tiger cubs being introduced to the outdoors for the first time at longleat safari park in wiltshire. they are just adorable. i just want to give them a big hug. you're all caught up now. see you later.

hello there. we're into fine settled spell of weather now, just in time for the weekend, and we should see a lot of sunshine on both saturday and sunday, especially across england and wales. winds light in the south, always a bit fresher further north. that's because scotland is closer to this area of low pressure over iceland, but the azores high bringing plenty of sunshine and lighter winds to england and wales. but it will be quite a cool start to saturday morning. cool and fresh, with temperatures in single digits out of towns and cities. but there'll be plenty of sunshine to begin the day, cloud tending to bubble up into the afternoon, and that will bring a few showers to northern and western scotland and northern ireland through the day, where it'll stay quite breezy but light winds further south.

temperatures here 211—25 degrees. mid to high teens across the north, maybe 20 degrees across north—east scotland. now the showers tend to fade away across most of the north, the odd one continuing across the highlands through saturday night. lengthy clear skies again, light winds to the south. so it's going to be another fresh night to come with seven to 12 degrees. for sunday, the azores high across the south, just nudges up a little bit further northwards. so large parts of england and wales, maybe northern ireland, southern scotland will see lighter winds, but still quite breezy across the north and west of scotland, and west of scotland where again we'll have a few showers and a few showers, perhaps for northern ireland, maybe just one or two across western england and wales, but similar sorts of temperatures, mid 20s in the south and mid to high teens further north. now as we head out to sunday to monday, our area of high pressure begins to get squeezed out in towards the near continent. as low pressure takes over across western areas, it goes downhill through the day across the north and the west. wetter and windier but central and eastern parts of

the country will stay dry. plenty of sunshine and light winds, too. further north and west it will be turning blustery with that rain, so temperatures here high teens at best, quite warm and turning increasingly humid across the southeast 25, maybe 26 degrees. tuesday looks more unsettled generally across the country. could even see a few showers in the south—east. it'll be a breezier day to come, but the heaviest of the rain will tend to be across the north and west of scotland. temperatures here again mid to high teens up to around 20 to 2a in the south. further areas of low pressure will cross the country, bringing wet and windy spells to the north and west, but it should tend to stay largely dry, quite warm, humid and breezy across the south—east.

hello, i'm rajini vaidyanathan. and welcome to tonight's special programme where we take a deeper look at this week's push for a ceasefire in gaza. us presidentjoe biden says a truce in gaza is much closer than it's ever been, but that it's not there yet. negotiators said the talks were "serious and constructive". they'll meet again next week to try to finalise an agreement between israel and hamas for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. in this special programme we'll take a look at where things stand, speaking to palestinians, israelis, and former diplomats, to assess where things stand.