Former President Michael D Higgins was presented with the Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award at the An Post Irish Book Awards, held in Dublin last week.

It was awarded to him for his significant body of literary works, which includes five poetry collections and several collections of speeches and essays on arts and politics.

In addition to being an artist in his own right, Michael D has also had a profound impact on Irish art and culture, with one of his main achievements being the establishment of Teilifís na Gaeilge, now TG4 in 1996 when he was Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht.

Athenry woman Elaine Feeney whose most recent novel was the acclaimed Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way, published earlier this year, won The Library Association of Ireland Author of the Year Award at the event.

Her previous novels, As You Were and How to Build a Boat, have won prizes and been nominated for various awards, with How to Build a Boat making the Booker Prize longlist.

A lecturer at the University of Galway, Elaine is also a poet whose collections include Where’s Katie?, The Radio Was Gospel, Rise and All the Good Things You Deserve.

Gráinne O’Brien who works as a buyer in Kennys’ Bookshop in Galway City won Young Adult Book of the Year for her accomplished and moving novel, Solo. Written in blank verse, it’s the compelling story of Daisy, a struggling teenager in a loving Irish family.

Darach Ó Scolaí from Indreabhán won Leabhar Gaeilge na Bliana/Irish Language Book for his novel Bódléar, set in pre-famine Conamara, and populated with a rich cast of characters.

Manchán Magan and illustrator Megan Luddy, Roisín O’Donnell, Joseph O’Connor, Andrew Porter, Sarah Corbett Lynch, Andrea Mara, Kathi and John Burke, Sophie Morris and Cecelia Ahern were also among those honoured.

A one-hour television programme, hosted by Oliver Callan, will be broadcast on RTÉ One next Thursday, December 11, during which the An Post Irish Book of the Year 2025, will be announced.

Winner of the Library Association of Ireland Author of the Year award, Elaine Feeney,  pictured at this year’s An Post Irish Book Awards, held in the Convention Centre, Dublin.