Irish Examiner view: Keep reading and stay informed

An Post Book Awards proffer some choice reads — and also remind us of the power of words

Charlie Bird and Ray Burke, winners of the Dubray Biography of the Year for 'Time and Tide' with Charlie's wife Claire Mould, and Maria Dickenson from Dubray, at the An Post Irish Book Awards 2022. 

An Post Irish Book Awards were held last night, with an impressive array of writing talent assembled in Dublin’s Convention Centre to celebrate literary achievement over the past 12 months. 

Ireland’s artistic heritage reaches a particular peak when it comes to literature, so it should come as no surprise to see the range of books celebrated yesterday.

Aoife Barry presenting broadcaster John Creedon with the Journal.ie Best Irish-Published Book award for 'An Irish Folklore Treasury' at the An Post Irish Book Awards. Pictures: An Post

That range of endeavour has an importance beyond the book world itself.

In an era when much is made of supposedly shrinking attention spans and the primacy of the short video clip, it is reassuring to see that books — slow to make, slow to read, containing views and opinions which may challenge and infuriate as well as informing and celebrating — still command a wide audience in the country.

'Irish Examiner' columnist Edel Coffey who won the Crime Fiction Book of the Year for 'Breaking Point' at the An Post Irish Book Awards 2022. 

We also live in an era when ignorance and resistance to learning can sometimes be weaponised by bad faith actors seeking to fulfil their own agendas. 

A well-informed populace is the best bulwark against the darkness that intolerant regimes would seek to impose on us, and the Irish Book Awards provide strong evidence that Ireland is as well-informed as it ever was.