Rick O’Shea

Broadcaster and Presenter of RTÉ’s The Book Show

The last few years, more than others, are the years we need reading in our lives most.

For me it’s always been a brilliant way to escape, keep my mental health on an even keel, learn new information and developments that change my view of the world, fall in love with incredible characters, meet old friends having new adventures, experience pasts and even futures that I couldn’t otherwise, and even travel when I haven’t been able to!

I am thrilled that the Ireland Reads initiative is happening and I hope it kick-starts reading all year round for you!

Áine Ní Ghlinn

Laureate na nÓg (2020-2023)

Osclaíonn leabhar doras na samhlaíochta, doras isteach i saol ina mbuaileann páistí le cairde nua – cairde na samhlaíochta. Sa domhan seo tá saoirse ag páiste a bheith ina bhleachtaire nó ina asarlaí, ina chailleach nó ina thaiscealaí. Tá saoirse aige nó aici a rogha rud a dhéanamh sa domhan samhailteach seo. Faoi láthair ní féidir linn dul ag taisteal sa bhfíorshaol. Tá srianta na pandéime an-dian ar pháistí. Taobh istigh de leathanaigh an leabhair, áfach, tá na srianta sin imithe. Tabhair tacaíocht don bhfeachtas Éire ag Léamh. Tabhair saoirse na samhlaíochta dár bpáistí.

Liz Nugent

Author

A love of books and reading was the greatest gift my father ever bestowed on me. Stories are available and free (libraries!) to everyone.

Through books, I have travelled all over the world, and to other worlds. I have solved and committed ghastly crimes. I have learned about great historical figures and little-known obscure ones. I have learned to cook and, if I wanted, I could learn to assemble a light aircraft or play a tuba. I have expanded my vocabulary and looked forward to bedtime and have laughed or cried myself to sleep, depending on the pages on my pillow.

Books are my solace and my escape and we have all needed one or the other at many stages of our lives.

Dave Rudden

Author

It is my great pleasure to be an ambassador for the 2022 ‘Ireland Reads’ campaign.

As a former teacher turned author, I have first-hand experience of the connective power of reading at any age. The magic of being transported to other worlds and other times is one thing, but what I find far more important is that very particular teleportation of stepping into other people’s heads.

Any reading is good reading, because reading reminds you that we all have our own plotlines – our own battles, our own triumphs, our own losses. I think there’s no lesson more important than that.

Sarah Webb

Author

Above everything, I’m a reader.

Books and reading mean so much to me. I could live without a lot of things, but not without books. They inform me, entertain me, help me step into other people's shoes, make me wonder. They are there when I'm well, when I'm sick, when I'm rested, when I'm tired.

They are my dear friends, my loyal companions. From old friends like Judy Blume’s Summer Sisters (a wonderfully immersive summer holiday book) or Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert (one of the best books about creativity out there), to shiny new children’s novels, I love them all! 

Joe Duffy

Broadcaster

TBC

Colm Tóibín

Author and Laureate for Irish Fiction

Reading is done alone and in silence, but the sense that books are also enjoyed by others and discussed widely makes reading communal and a rich part of a shared culture. The Ireland Reads campaign responds to the impulse readers feel to talk about the books they love and pass on the experience to others. The pandemic was a good time for readers; no one asked us to be socially distant from a book. But it was also a time when readers could feel isolated, in need of others to discuss literature, to make the experience of reading deeper and more textured. This makes the Ireland Reads campaign even more essential.

Marian Keyes

Author

I was an anxious, lonely child, but when I read my first Enid Blyton book (‘The Twins at St Claire’s’) my mind was blown. Suddenly, I had a gateway to another world – to infinite worlds. I was able to escape the discomfort of being me by immersing myself in the lives of others..

Since then, reading has been my saviour. No matter what was going on for me, books comforted me, befriended me, made me laugh, made me think, gave me a breathing space and cocooned me from the world.

The ability to read is my superpower.

Melatu-Uche Okorie

Author

I love reading because it gives me heroes. I also get to go to different places in my mind's eye, fall in love, be sad, get angry, laugh at other people's idiosyncrasies, all in a matter of minutes.