“New Voices: The An Post Writing Prize’’ unveiled as new award category

with writers from the Irish based Ukrainian community

invited to submit their original entries this year

 

An Post has renewed their headline sponsorship agreement with the Irish Book Awards, one of Ireland’s most distinguished and popular literary events. The organisation first sponsored the initiative in 2018 and this new announcement extends the agreement until 2025.

 

Now in its 18^th year, the An Post Irish Book Awards celebrate and promote Irish writing to the widest range of readers possible. Each year it brings together a vast community passionate about books – readers, authors, booksellers, publishers and librarians – to recognise the very best of Irish writing talent.

 

The awards feature a diverse mix of exceptional writing from new and established writers across 18 categories, including Novel of the Year, Children, Cookbook, Crime Fiction, Popular Fiction, Non-fiction, Sports, Lifestyle, Short Story, Irish language, Poem, Newcomer, Teen and Young Adult, Irish Published and Biography.

 

Hundreds of books are submitted for consideration annually and, over the past 18 years, an array of new and established domestic and international authors have graced the Irish Book Awards stage including Marian Keyes, Mike McCormack, Donal Ryan, Cecelia Ahern, Sinead Moriarty, Graham Norton, Judi Curtin, Oliver Jeffers, Joseph O’Connor, Sally Rooney, Roddy Doyle, Liz Nugent, Tana French, Sinead Gleeson, and Paul Howard.

 

In addition to category winners, a very special award is also announced at the event. The Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award recognises the contribution of distinguished Irish writers and poets, and winners have included Anne Enright, Sebastian Barry, Colm Toibín, Thomas Kinsella, Eavan Boland, John Montague, JP Donleavy, Paul Durcan, John Banville, Maeve Binchy, John McGahern, Edna O’Brien, William Trevor and Séamus Heaney.

 

As part of the extended sponsorship agreement, An Post is launching a new writing competition called ‘New Voices: The An Post Writing Prize’. This year, the focus is on the Irish based Ukrainian community, with writers from this community aged 16+ invited to compose a new and original short story, essay or poem describing their experiences of flight and exile in no more than 1,000 words. The winner will be announced at the An Post Irish Book Awards Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony in the Convention Centre Dublin on November 22^nd.

 

David McRedmond, CEO at An Post, says:

‘“An Post loves the written word, and the transformational power of reading. Books are essential to good living, and we fulfil our purpose “ to act for the common good” by sponsoring these awards.

An Post has supported Ukrainian refugees with free postage and other services, in fraternity with our colleagues in UKRPoshta. Now we recognise the unique contribution they can make in Ireland with this new prize for new literary voices, which this year focuses on Ukrainian refugees.”

 

Maria Dickenson, member of Irish Book Awards Board says:

“We are delighted that An Post will be sponsoring the Irish Book Awards until 2025. Since 2018, An Post and The Irish Book Awards have worked closely together to promote reading and to celebrate and highlight the wealth of both new and established writers and illustrators in Ireland. The Irish Book Awards is a landmark event in the bookselling calendar and every year, brings together the vast Irish literary community. We are excited that An Post is continuing on our journey with us as the Irish Book Awards goes from strength to strength.”

 

The full shortlist for the An Post Irish Book Awards 2023 will be announced on 19th October, while the winners will be presented with their trophies at the An Post Irish Book Awards event in the CCD, Dublin, on 22nd November.^. A television programme will be broadcast on RTÉ One television in December, culminating in one of the 2023 winning titles being announced as the ‘An Post Irish Book of the Year 2023’.

 

www.anpostirishbookawards.ie

Facebook: @AnPostIBAS

Instagram: @anpost_irishbookawards

Twitter: @AnPostIBAS

 

For a range of reading recommendations, check out www.anpost.com/readerswanted

• 8 athletes qualify to participate in Ireland’s first ever national Down Syndrome Futsal team attending the SUDS European Championships

 

• Athletes will also participate in artistic swimming and athletics competitions

 

15 Irish athletes have qualified to travel to Padua, Italy, in September to participate in the Sport Union for Athletes with Down Syndrome (SUDS) European Championships, including Ireland’s first national Down Syndrome Futsal team. The athletes will compete in a range of sports including Athletics, Artistic Swimming and Futsal.

 

The multi-sport championship in Italy will take place from 3^rd to 10^th of September with athletes from 22 countries competing. The event will offer those with Down Syndrome a unique opportunity to participate against their peers. The 15 athletes are competing in the following sports:

 

• Futsal is a form of five-aside indoor football played with a smaller, heavier ball than soccer and is an ideal sport for Ireland as it is played from October to March. The Ireland Down Syndrome Futsal team of eight players were selected from a player pool of 80 through talent days held all over Ireland.

 

This will be the first time that Ireland will have a Futsal team participating. The Louth Meath branch of Down Syndrome Ireland and the FAI’s Football for All programme have been working to develop the Futsal team among players with Down Syndrome, coached by Paul Smyth.

• Athletics – Three athletes have qualified to participate in the athletics competition in Italy and will take part in the 100m, 200m, 800m, 1500m and triathlon races. For this first-time participation, a second for Fergal Cosgrove, personal best times are in the scope.

 

• Artistic swimming, formerly called synchronised swimming, is a very technical sport. Four swimmers have been selected for their first-time participation in the combo event and they have been training for two years to perfect their skills for the European Championships.

Often, athletes with Down Syndrome compete and train within mixed disability teams or with other athletes with an intellectual disability. Because athletes with Down syndrome have additional functional disabilities, they are not competing on a level playing field with other athletes with an intellectual disability. This is very obvious in team sports. The additional functional disabilities include, shorter stature, shorter limbs, hypotonia (low muscle tone) and smaller hands.

 

As a result, the SUDS European Championships give these athletes an opportunity to participate with and against their peers with Down Syndrome on a level playing field.

The 15 Irish athletes competing are:

 

Athletics:

• Fergal Cosgrove – Co. Meath
• Liam Foley – Co. Meath
• Elisha Gallagher – Co. Dublin

 

Artistic Swimming:

• Fintan Bray – Co. Westmeath
• Dúalta Callan – Co. Meath
• Katie Gaynor – Co. Meath
• Eleanor Murray – Co. Meath

 

Futsal:

• David Crawford – Co. Donegal
• Josh Hennessy – Co. Dublin
• Cian Kelleher – Co. Cork
• Jamie Linden – Co. Louth
• Micheál McCloy – Co. Armagh
• Daniel O’Reilly – Co. Donegal
• Hughie Sweeney – Co. Donegal
• Sean Toolin – Co. Waterford

 

Tessa van Heerden, Sport Coordinator at Down Syndrome Ireland Louth and Meath branch, says: “Disability sport development in Ireland has come a long way, especially in intellectual disability sport. By participating in SUDS European Championships, we are shining a light on the high functioning athletes with Down Syndrome and setting up pathways for the participation in further events. We are proud of our 15 athletes for their training and progress so far and are delighted to be heading to Italy for this event.”

 

The team will be departing Dublin Airport for Italy on the 2^nd of September, having fundraised extensively to compete at the European Championships.

 

Upcoming training days taking place before the team leave for the championships are as follows:

• Futsal
  • 10am – 12pm, 12^th August, Corduff Sport Centre, Dublin
  • 9am – 12pm, 26^th August, Corduff Sport Centre, Dublin
• Artistic Swimming

Land Training

• • 5:30pm – 7pm, 14^th August, Aura Trim
  • 5:30pm – 7pm, 21^st August, Aura Trim
  • 5:30pm – 7pm, 28^th August, Aura Trim

Pool Training

• • 7pm – 8pm, 14^th August, Aura Trim
  • 7pm – 8pm, 21^st August, Aura Trim
  • 7pm – 8pm, 28^th August, Aura Trim

 

For more information about SUDS European Championships, please visit:

https://www.su-ds.org/events/

Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WarriorWolvesLouthMeath

Find us on Twitter @DownSyndromeIRL and @ffa_fai

Lisney, Ireland’s largest independently owned multi-disciplinary property advisory company, will be sponsoring The Speed Championship event at The Dublin Horse Show, RDS for the second year running.

 

The Dublin Horse Show, an integral part of Dublin’s annual social and cultural calendar, will take place from the 9^th – 13^th of August this year. The Speed Championship, sponsored by Lisney, is happening on Sunday 13^th August, with a prize fund of €25,500 on offer for the winning horse and rider. Last year’s Speed Championship was won by France’s Confidence d’Ass, ridden by Edward Levy with an impressive time of 65.96 seconds.

 

The Dublin Horse Show at the RDS this year will attract over 100,000 visitors and 1,600 horses over the five days. The show, which is one of the biggest events in Ireland, has one of the largest annual prize pools for international show jumping worldwide.

 

David Byrne, Managing Director of Lisney, said:

“Lisney are delighted to be sponsoring The Speed Championship at The Dublin Horse Show for the second year running. The Horse Show is an iconic annual event celebrating the very best of the equine industry in Ireland and is a special opportunity to showcase Dublin as a cultural hub to both a national and international audiences. It is a wonderful social event and is the highlight of the summer season for many. Lisney have a longstanding relationship with the RDS and we are delighted and look forward to supporting the event once again this year.”

 

Lisney offers clients a full-service property offering across both the residential and commercial markets. Operating for almost 90 years, the business employs 125 people in a range of agency and advisory services departments across offices in Dublin, Cork, and Belfast. The commercial division of the business operates under Lisney Commercial Real Estate, while the residential division operates under the Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty brand.

 

Pat Hanly, Show Director at the RDS Dublin Horse Show, said:

“We are delighted that Lisney are once again sponsoring the Speed Championship at the RDS Dublin Horse Show, which is always a firm crowd favourite. As an iconic Irish brand with great heritage, Lisney are the perfect partners for the Show.”

 

For more details about Lisney, visit www.lisney.com

You can also follow Lisney on Twitter: LisneyIreland and Linked In: Lisney Ireland

Global renewable energy developer DP Energy and SBM Offshore, a global player in the offshore energy transition, have formalized a new joint venture to pursue floating offshore wind energy opportunities off Nova Scotia. The partnership will strive to support Nova Scotia’s ambitious climate action targets and contribute meaningfully to the phasing out of coal from the grid, creating a cleaner more sustainable future for Nova Scotia.

 

Since 2021, the local team has been engaging in Nova Scotia with the objective of understanding local constraints and opportunities. The initial focus of the newly formed joint venture is to support the development of a floating offshore wind industry in Nova Scotia, contributing carefully to the implementation of environmental, regulatory, supply chain, workforce, and construction best practices. Such foundation for an ambitious, yet sustainable energy transition, can only be established through honest engagement and local dialogue with all key stakeholders; first nations and other interested parties will remain a priority throughout the partnership’s endeavours.

 

DP Energy and SBM Offshore have a collective wealth of expertise in the renewable energy sector and the design and construction of offshore floating facilities for the energy industry. They also have significant experience working in Nova Scotia to help advance the region’s offshore energy journey, this includes in depth understanding of local regulatory specificities and successful track record in local partnerships and growing local businesses.

 

Simon De Pietro, CEO of DP Energy said “With SBM Offshore we have found a strong partner to pioneer Canada’s floating offshore wind sector. The combination of their proven offshore construction capability, and a project development philosophy with strong emphasis on building up local supply chains, and our abiding commitment to protect the environment, is the ideal team to start Canada’s promising plan to create a new renewable offshore energy industry to help the world’s common climate challenge.”

 

“Our 30-year approach to renewable project development puts the environment and local communities front and centre. Floating offshore wind is an exciting new opportunity for Nova Scotia and will bring much needed new investment which can add to coastal economies and communities.”

 

Severine Baudic, Managing Director New Energies and Services at SBM Offshore said “We are very pleased to announce the formalization of our partnership with DP Energy, a well-recognized developer in the renewable energy space. We believe that Canada’s offshore wind resource is among the best in the world, and as an offshore energy transition company with proven experience in Nova Scotia, we are excited to continue and expand our partnerships with the local community and ready to write a new chapter, together.”

 

About DP Energy

DP Energy is an Irish company that develops, constructs, and operates renewable energy projects across the world, including Australia, Canada, the UK, and Ireland. With over 30 years’ experience in the global renewable energy space, DP Energy has an immediate project pipeline of over 7GW and is committed to using the most sustainable and environmentally responsible methods in all their energy developments.

 

About SBM Offshore

SBM Offshore has over 65 years of extensive experience designing, constructing, delivering, installing, and operating offshore energy facilities, with special expertise in developing local supply chains and providing economic opportunities to local communities. With over 7,000 people globally, SBM Offshore is active in the decarbonization of conventional deepwater ocean infrastructure and the deployment of new energies.

 

For over fifty years, Trócaire have been working with supporters, partners, and communities to create positive and lasting change. To commemorate the occasion, Core and Saturday Films have launched a new ‘One Day’ campaign on behalf of Trócaire.

Link to new campaign (TVC and image stills): https://we.tl/t-HBnqMjYbUo

The campaign conceived by Core and developed alongside Saturday Films highlights some of the human stories behind these “One Days,” days when Trócaire have helped achieve positive lasting change in more than 27 countries around the world over the past five decades.

These include the day that the women of Sierra Leone won the right to own their land, the day that over 1,400 Kenyan farmers gained access to running water for the first time and the day that Apartheid was finally ended in South Africa.

Susan Kelly, Strategic Director at Core, highlights the campaign’s theme, stating that:

“For many of us, the day when we finally overcome the problems of poverty and inequality seems like it will never come. This campaign shows how Trócaire have helped make those long hoped-for “One Days” happen… and continue to happen… for more than fifty years.”

Karen Smyth, Head of Brand at Trócaire, emphasises the importance of highlighting the extraordinary human impact made by the Irish public through their support of Trócaire:

“In this campaign we have shown what we can achieve when we work together. It is a testament to the support of the Irish people and the tireless efforts of our partners overseas that we have managed to achieve so much over the past fifty years.”

 

Link to new campaign (TVC and image stills): https://we.tl/t-HBnqMjYbUo

At the heart of the One Day campaign are a series of powerful films for TV, cinema and social created by Core and Saturday Films to demonstrate the impact of this work on the lives of individuals around the world.

These highly charged emotional spots were co-directed by Mike Garner and Gary Moore. Utilising archive footage and images from Thailand to Guatemala as well as shooting new material with local photographers and film makers in Sierra Leone, Somalia, Kenya, and South Africa, the work show the scale of positive change that has been achieved over the past fifty years.

Viewers can learn more about these remarkable stories at trocaire.org/oneday

The media campaign was developed by Zenith, part of Core and will run across TV, VOD, cinema, an Irish Times partnership and social across July and August

Credits

Trócaire

Director of Ireland Programmes: Gwen Dempsey

Head of Brand: Karen Smyth

Brand Manager: Michael Cummins

Interim Head of Communications: Niamh Mc Cathy

Communications Officer: Catherine Devine

Digital Communications Manager: Karen Mc Hugh

Core

Client Partner: Jonny Boyle

Senior Client Manager: Sophie Burke

Client Manager: Hannah Finnegan

Strategy: Susan Kelly

Executive Creative Director: Liam Wielopolski

Creative Director: Mike Garner

Senior Art Director: Nadia Karim.

Senior Copywriter: Conor McDevitt.

Media: Phoebe Laing, Shane Costello, Donal Loughlin and Lucy Slevin

Production: Saturday Films

Directors: Gary Moore and Mike Garner

Producer: Gary Moore

DOPs: Adam Asmal, Grant Atkinson, Seye Olusoji, Mackin Barassa Wafulu

Stills: Gary Moore, Muiru Mbuthia, Brid Dunne, Simone Dalmasso

Archive: Pamela Yates, Garry Walsh, CNN, Elena Hermosa

Post Production

Editor: Anna Heisterkamp

Grade: Gary Curran, Outer Limits

Online: Arnaud Rigaud, Rory Gavin, Outer Limits

Composer: Steve Lynch, Stellar Sound

Soundmix: Liam Yelen, Screen Scene

VO: Donna Nikolaisen

Cast

 

Marie Kanu

Adey Bule Aden

Fadumo Ali Abdi

Isahil Ali Osman

Ali Mohamud Salat

Fadumo Xasan Maxamuud

Warsame Cali Maxamuud

Nasro Cali Maxamuud

Dhool Cali Maxamuud

Sharmaake Cali Maxamuud

Saadaq Cali Maxamuud

Samwel Kariuki

Stella Murugi

Allan Mugendi

Denis Murugi

Samwel Macharia

Madris

Skylah Kline

Sky Van Schoor

Rebekah Leah Jordaan

Lucy Malander

Amber Chandler Wilson

Alex Potgeiter

Gabriel Maasdorp

Zachary Adonis

Iviwe Mani

Audon Van der Hyde

Talia Ndalasomani

Lesedi Ngcongco

Aluvuso Nkosi

Jassiel Chitsiga

 

 

 

Core employs a team of 330 people and consists of nine Practices – Creative, Data, Investment, Learning, Media (comprising of Spark Foundry, Starcom, and Zenith), Research, Sponsorship, Performance and Strategy.

www.onecore.ie