Ms Máire Logue:

We suffer from Catholic guilt then as to whether we should or should not. Members know what I mean. We do appreciate that.

We absolutely have synergies with other festivals. Book festivals in Ireland are very small. We work with Cill Rialaig to offer a residency for seven emerging writers every year for a week. As members know, festivals are dependent. The Ennis Book Club Festival had to be absolutely cancelled and was decimated this year because of one of the storms. We picked up the pieces, contacted them and said we were really sorry that had happened to them and asked them to come to Listowel and have some of their events there. We had to do that because there for the grace of God goes our festival. On the way here I had a call from Mountains to Sea. We work with that festival. It is all about authors. Kerry County Council has been in and out, and we have always been in contact with Cúirt. It is a very small family of festivals. There was a time, perhaps, when this was not the case and we saw one another as competition. We must do what we can.