When her 10-year-old son gets hayfever symptoms for the first time this summer, Esther N McCarthy, leaps into mammy mode to try to cure him. They trial homoeopathic remedies, high-tech household gadgets and good old-fashioned nettles.

Diarmuid Gavin's older brother has hayfever, but his sibling has plenty of tips for sufferers to help them get back out in the garden this year, writes Helen O'Callaghan