Irish Book Awards ceremony moves online only as Covid cases rise

The An Post Irish Book Awards ceremony has been moved to an online only ceremony due to the worsening coronavirus rates in the country.

This year's event was due to go ahead as an in-person event on 23rd November, however, organisers announced on 15th November the ceremony would move to a virtual format due to rising coronavirus rates and "the most recent guidance on reducing social interactions". The event will now be streamed on RTÉ.ie on 23rd November. Anyone who has purchased tickets will be refunded in full within five to seven business days, organisers said. 

Ireland currently has the highest incidence of Covid-19 infection in western Europe and the 12th highest in the world, according to statistics from the World Health Organisation. As of Sunday (14th November) the 14-day incidence rate was 959 per 100,000 people. 

Organisers said they "look forward to celebrating safely together in 2022" and gave "sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused". 

Shortlisted authors for this year's awards include Sally Rooney for Beautiful World Where Are You (Faber) and Colm Tóibín for The Magician (Viking).