There is strength in standing together
Established in 1970, Publishing Ireland is a member-led, voluntary organisation for trade, training and development, a place for peer publishers to share information
and develop professionally. We are the only organisation on the island of Ireland that focuses specifically on Irish publishers and welcome membership from publishers who are based on the island of Ireland, have published at least two titles to professional standard and agree to adhere to the Publishing Ireland Members Code of Practice.
Our vision is an Ireland in which Irish publishing thrives, creating and publishing top quality books that share the varied output of Irish publishers and speak to the cultural experience of Irish people across the island and beyond. Publishing Ireland has a growing membership of 60 publishers and is governed by a board of representatives from the membership. We encourage a diversity of membership and welcome new members from all walks of Irish publishing. Members are at the heart of Publishing Ireland’s reason for being. We believe there
is strength in communication between publishers, and so we facilitate opportunities for people to meet, talk and share information.
We collaborate with other organisations and institutions to seek advice and specialist information which is then passed on to members. Publishing Ireland is not an endpoint, but rather a channel through which information can flow. We create the path for members to find the information they need so that they can make their own well-informed decisions. Publishing Ireland also represents the industry’s interests to the Irish Government and other bodies as well as at the Federation of European Publishers (FEP) and the International Publishers Associations (IPA). We are a member of Words Ireland, working collaboratively with other Irish literary organisations on a range of activities and events. Dublin Book Festival is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Publishing Ireland, established in 2006 to promote Irish-published books and authors to the public an annual event which supports and showcases the best of Irish publishing. Publishing Ireland appoints a board member and a representative to the programming committee of Dublin Book Festival to promote its members’ interests.
Publishing Ireland is funded through membership fees, support and specific project funding. We also gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Arts Council in making many of our activities possible.
Publishing Ireland provides advice, support and information on a wide range of issues to Publishers and Associate Members. The range of activities is constantly evolving to meet the needs of members. Publishing Ireland produces CLÉmail – a regular newsletter to subscribers which covers industry updates, news, event career and training opportunities.
Publishing Ireland runs a comprehensive schedule of training courses each year. These are open to members and non-members. As publishing encompasses such a wide variety of areas and operations it requires a spectrum of creative, business and technical skills.
Many of our courses are relevant to those who work outside the traditional book publishing industry. With the surge in new media around both creative and corporate, more content than ever is being published. Publishing Ireland monitor and engage with the industry and these developments to commission the right publishing training courses for Ireland. We also work with an array of acknowledged experts to suit each course. Training is targeted at both company heads and general staff, with a combination of specific skills development and broader topics from copyright and contracts to legal regulations and rights. We work with an array of acknowledged experts to suit each course. Our most popular training format is classroom based. These are tutor-led with discussions and exercises and/or practical workshops. Due to current Covid-19 restrictions, we have now moved all training courses online until further notice. Course fees range but are always great value with discounts for members.
Our annual Trade Day is a dedicated day of presentations and interviews with leading international and national industry figures, exploring key issues relevant to the publishing industry. The Dublin Book Festival Trade Day is open to both Members (with discounts for Members’ staff) and Non-Members. It provides a fantastic opportunity for networking as well as hosting a top-class list of speakers to give excellent insight into the global trends in publishing.