WHO would ever think there was so much more to colour?

Well paint manufacturer Crown and the interior design students at Griffith College Dublin have put a lot of thought into the psychological impact of how colour is used with regard to the affect of light, the ambience, atmosphere and orientation of a room. Crown Paints has just awared a bursary of 3,000 to Sonja Hanley, a second-year student on the BA course in interior architecture at the college, for her use of colour in a business environment.

Kevin Whelan, marketing director with the company, said, "Being able to speak to those who are about to embark on a career in interior architecture and design is great for us. Not only does it allow us to build relationshiops with the industry, it shows first hand the levels of creativity out there among the designers of the future."

This one's for the kids

IRELAND'S only centre for children's literature and culture studies was opened earlier in the week by An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin.

The centre will provide an important new focus for the study of children's literature and culture in Ireland, attracting scholars from multi-disciplinary backgrounds to carry out advanced research on all aspects of children's and young people's literature and culture, from the classics to poetry, games, rhymes, comics, film, video, rock music, computer games, blog sites and even text messaging. The centre also invites young people to use the facility to evaluate their own culture and literature.

The centre was opened following the success of the taught MA programme in children's literature at St Patrick's. Apart from hosting seminars, and offering teaching and research fellowships and scholarships, the centre will engage in joint projects with other institutions both at home and abroad.

UNDER the EU directive, CO Directive on CO 2output 2emissions associated with energy use for heating, water heating, ventilations and lighting of new dwellings must be limited from 1 July next.

According to Alan McKenna, chairman of the Irish Timber Frame Manufacturers Association (IFTMA), wood is characterised by its CO 2neutrality, and modern timber-frame houses have savings of 43% in emissions as compared to a traditional, concrete-blockbuilt house.

To date, 28% of houses built in Ireland are of timber-frame construction, but the IFTMA believes that figure is set to increase when the government implements the new directive.