Search for cheap homes returns to our telly screens

THE TV show for house hunters on a budget is back tonight, featuring a returned emigrant on the search for a rural retreat in the west of Ireland.

- BY LARISSA NOLAN

Cheap Irish Homes returns for a sixth series, with host Maggie Molloy joined by a new sidekick, architect Tadhg Casey.

The pair help writer Pauline Bleach in her search for a quiet place near water, where she can write and enjoy the countryside.

Maggie insists bargains can still be found across the country: "In a housing crisis, it's still possible to find a cheap Irish home."

Writer Pauline, 55, is originally from Portlaoise, but moved to Australia 30 years ago. Now she has returned, and would love a peaceful place in either Galway - where she spent childhood holidays - or Clare, where her father came from.