BORD GÁIS ENERGY
We are absolutely delighted to welcome our new headline sponsors Bord Gáis Energy to the family of The Irish Book Awards. Bord Gáis Energy is a dual-fuel, all-island business that serves over 900,000 gas and electricity customers with exemplary service at a competitive price, procuring energy efficiently on wholesale markets and investing in energy assets to support its growth objectives in the energy markets in Ireland.the retail arm of the group. Bord Gáis Energy is the retail arm of Bord Gáis, selling gas and electricity to all market segments, with related activities including call centre management, billing and sales and marketing. It also provides appliance servicing products to customers. It serves over 600,000 gas customers and 300,000 electricity customers.
THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
The Sunday Independent is the biggest selling Irish Sunday newspaper by a large margin. It is now owned by businessman Sir Anthony O'Reilly, and is part of a worldwide newspaper group that includes The Independent in the United Kingdom. The newspaper is edited by Aengus Fanning who along with literary editor, Madeleine Keane, has been a strong supporter of these awards since their inception. From 2011 the Newcomer of the Year Award will be sponsored by the Sunday Independent.
RTÉ RADIO 1
John Murray hosts a weekday morning show on RTE Radio One. Listeners can expect entertaining, lively conversation and invigorating debate, cut through with John’s irreverent and singular style, familiar to fans of Radio 1’s The Business. Taking a wry look at ordinary,everyday events and a sideways sweep at the stories all around us, the show has become a new intelligent alternative for morning listening.
Like his predecessor, John has proved himself a worthy champion of books and the show's focus on books and reading continues.
ARGOSY INDEPENDENT BOOK WHOLESALERS
ARGOSY is Ireland’s only independent book wholesaler. ARGOSY has a long tradition in bookselling and in supporting Irish publishers and authors. We are delighted to be involved in the Irish Book Awards and particularly in the sponsorship of the ARGOSY Irish Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award. In our association with this award, we hope to highlight the wealth of talent among Irish authors and promote their fine work.
EASON & SON LTD
It was in the heady days of Parnell and the Land League that Charles Eason acquired the business from W.H. Smith in 1886. Today, Eason and Son have forty-five outlets in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the flagship being our store in O'Connell Street, Dublin. Throughout the island of Ireland, our shops stock an extensive range of books, newspapers, magazines, greeting cards, and stationery. Some shops also stock music, video, DVD's, toys, and computer accessories.
IRELAND AM
Ireland AM is Ireland’s only live breakfast TV show broadcasting on a daily basis from 7 to 10am. Since its launch in Sept 1999, Ireland AM has quickly risen to become the most watched breakfast show in Ireland (beating GMTV, BBC, Channel 4 and Sky). With its unique young housekeeper profile the show reaches in excess of 200,000 viewers each morning. Ireland AM keeps viewers updated throughout the morning with news, weather and a winning combination of light, heartwarming, informative and often hard hitting interviews along with plenty of fun features.
NATIONAL BOOK TOKENS
National Book Tokens began in 1932 when Harold Raymond, a publisher, noted that the chief difficulty people found when giving a book was the fear of getting the wrong book. His response was the brilliantly simple notion of the book token. Over 75 years later his invention is still going strong. National Book Tokens are sold and exchanged in more outlets than any other book voucher in Ireland. So you can send them to anyone, wherever they live.
INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION SERVICES LTD
International Education Services Ltd is a wholly Irish-owned family business. Providing a complete Library service, IES specialise in the supply of Children's books to Local Authorities and Government Departments. IES are also the leading supplier of children's books to Primary and Secondary schools throughout Ireland. We are delighted to be associated with the Irish Book Awards and in particular being able to involve our wonderful network of public libraries. The Company takes great pride in its expertise in the area of Children’s literature and commands a dominant share of this market throughout Ireland.
HUGHES & HUGHES
Hughes & Hughes was originally established by the
current Chief Executive’s father as Hughes Books
Services, a wholesaler, in 1957. Derek Hughes
established the retail business in 1984 and in the
ensuing years built the company into one of the
major retail bookstore chains in Ireland.
SPECSAVERS
We are delighted to welcome Specsavers as sponsor of the 2011 Irish Book Awards Children's categories. Specsavers has been Ireland’s family optician for the past twenty years and is passionate about providing affordable eyecare for everyone. Naturally, that includes ensuring people can see clearly when reading, hence Specsavers’ long-running sponsorship of the More 4/Channel 4 TV Book Club and a growing range of educational and literacy programmes. Specsavers was founded by Doug and Dame Mary Perkins in 1984 and continues to grow in Ireland, where it currently has 39 stores. There are nearly 1,600 Specsavers stores worldwide, including the UK, the netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Australia and New Zealand.