Council Win Award for Book Festival Support

Clare Champion, Friday, 30th November 2007

The first ever association of Irish Festival Events (Aoife) award for most supportive local authority in Ireland has been presented to Clare County Council for their involvement with the Ennis Book Club Festival. The results were announced recently at the annual three-day AOIFE Conference in Ballinasloe.

The inaugural Ennis Book Club Festival took place last March and the 2008 event will run from February 29 to March 2. Mary Keneally, Committee member of the Ennis Book Club Festival told how she was delighted with the support that the festival has reeceived. "The support provided to the Ennis Book Club Festival by Clare County Library and Clare County Council is a great example of how the community and Local Authorities can work together. The Festival is also very thankful to Ennis Town Council for their generous sponsorship and for their ongoing support which is vital to the success of the Festival," she said.

Founded in March 1993, AOIFE is an all-island voluntary network organisation that brings together organisers of festivals and events in Ireland, suppliers to the festival and event sector and policy-makers and funders to act as a forum for the sharing of best practice ideas and to articulate common areas of concern and to favorably influence government policies in relation to the sector. The new Awards platform is designed to showcase and recognise the best practices found in the festivals and events industry in Ireland.

The inagurual awards programme featured four main categories - Entertainment, Technical Service, Suppliers, Sponsors, and, critically, most supportive Local Authority. A panel of industry/sector peers headed up by an International Jury Chairperson selected the finalists and allocated the awards accordingly.

Accepting the award on behalf of Clare County Council, Mayor of Clare Cllr. Patricia McCarthy, stated, "The benefits associated with the Ennis Book Club Festival are enormous on several fronts. It promotes reading, libraries, community involvement and it promotes the town of Ennis. The festival brings visitors to Ennis during the off-peak tourist season and highlights very positive cultural and commercial aspects of the town."

While Mayor of Ennis, Tommy Brennan, added, "I am delighted with the award and delighted that Ennis Town Council supported the Ennis Book Club Festival this year. I hope this support will continue and grow in the coming years".

Ciana Campbell, from the Festival Committee explained, "Town centre venues were chosen in order to maximise ease of participation and ensure large attendances and also to provide a mix between commercial and public spaces. Even the town name was incorporated into the very name of the festival in order to locate it firmly in people’s minds as an Ennis event."

Already, several top authors have confirmed their attendance for the 2008 event including Booker-prize winner Roddy Doyle and Dermot Bolger, Winner of the Samuel Beckett Award. Other high-profile Irish participants will be Hugo Hamilton, Fintan O'Toole, Nuala O'Faolain and Ken Bruen. American writers Lorna Landvik and Thomas Lynch will also attend while the most recent addition to the programme is Joanne Harris. Her book Chocolat was made into an academy award nominated film in 2001. A group of readers from the United States have already booked their places for the weekend and enquiries have come in from Denmark, France, the UK and all around Ireland.

The Festival committee is Patricia Callaly, Ciana Campbell, Mary Kenneally, Ruth McDonnell and Frances O'Gorman. They are ably assisted by a small army of festival helpers, without whom the event would not happen.

Further details are available at www.ennisbookclubfestival.com or by phone at 087-2262259.

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