THe Volvo Open ocean race

31. Dragon's Den – the Irish version


Sick of mocking the simple entrepreneurial dreams of the Brits and feeling the need to begrudge the hard-fought enterprises of your fellow countrymen? RTé's version of venture-capitalist torture-chamber 'Dragon's Den' should see you right!


32. Villagers


From the ashes of one of the most promising Irish bands of their generation – The Immediate – come Villagers. Fronted by Conor O'Brien, they have only played a few gigs but are already wowing critics.


33. The Volvo Open ocean race


Even if you're not especially interested in boats, Galway, 23 May, promises an electric


atmosphere when leg nine of the Volvo Open, which began last year, reaches Irish shores, having travelled some 5,550 nautical miles. The fleet are here for two weeks and it's the biggest sporting event we've hosted since the Ryder Cup. Hello sailor!


34. Martin McCann


Twenty-five-year-old Irish actor McCann is steadily climbing the showbiz ladder. He stars in the highly anticipated TV mini-series 'The Pacific', by the same team who brought us 'Band of Brothers'.


35. Offal


Food wise, you're going to be eating cuts of meat that you didn't even know existed. Check out unfashionable cuts like skirt or brave tongue, brain and other innards. Lots of taste for not much spend.


36. Green Nineteen


A restaurant serving up good food at keen prices – all mains are a tenner and under. Think bangers and mash and salads with substance. There's a killer cocktail menu to boot and wicked mojito ice-cream.


19 Camden Street, Dublin 2. Tel: 014789626


37. Unicorns


First there were skulls, then owls replaced them as fashion's favourite motif, but 2009 will be the year of the unicorn. And pick up a copy of 'The Natural History of Unicorns' by Christopher Laver, which examines the nature of this iconic beast.


38. The Lovely Bones


She's only a tween but Saoirse Ronan has acted alongside more A-list celebrities than you've had hot dinners. Catch her in this hard-hitting film, based on the book by Alice Sebold, alongside Mark Wahlberg, as a young girl who is raped and murdered.


39. Rebecca Fleetwood


A model with Morgan The Agency, 20-year-old Dubliner Fleetwood has graced the catwalks of London and Paris and will add Milan Fashion Week to her CV in '09 before heading Stateside.


40. He's Just Not That Into You


Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connolly, Drew Barrymore and Scarlett Johansson star in this surefire hit, an adaptation of the self-help book inspired by a 'Sex And The City' episode.