Irishman James Toft is on cloud nine this week and with good reason.

The time-honoured place for a summer’s day out is the beach. Whatever the weather, you can always build a sand castle, says Robert Hume. Bucketloads of people have been doing so for generations.

Two sailors have been rescued from an uninhabited island after search teams spotted their "SOS" in the sand.

Sun-seekers have been beating the summer blues here with one travel agency confirming that early bookings for 2015 sun breaks were up 30% and helped drive revenue growth.

Before flying off to the sun for a well-deserved holiday, think about the least expensive and the safest ways to pay, says Peter O’Dwyer.