The Rooney Prize 2017

Provost's House

25th September

 

Distinguished Guests, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

You’re all very welcome to the Provost’s House in Trinity College Dublin for this great annual event: the awarding of the Rooney Prize to a new emerging Irish literary talent.

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This year is a sombre one because we mourn the death in April of the founder of the Prize, Daniel Milton Rooney, former chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers, US Ambassador to Ireland, and co-founder of the Ireland Funds – a remarkable owner-manager of a legendary American Football team, a philanthropist and benefactor of the arts, an early and active supporter of Barack Obama, and a true friend to this country.

For forty years, since its inception in 1976, he presided over the Rooney Prize for Literature – and whatever his commitments, he was here in Dublin, in person, to present the Prize. Last year, exceptionally, ill health presented him and his wife, Patricia, from travelling. But we are thankful that Dan did live to see the 40th anniversary of the Prize he inaugurated.

He knew that it was exceptional among literary awards for its longevity – the same Prize with the same name and the same benefaction for four decades – and a prize remarkable for its ability to spot talent. I once toted up all the Bookers, IMPACs, Tonys, and Oscars held by Rooney prizewinners; it was an impressive tally. Just in the past three years, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Colin Barrett and Sara Baume are more than justifying the judges’ faith in them. Dan Rooney was rightly proud of this Prize and its support for Irish literary talent.

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Last year, at the 40th anniversary, we took the opportunity to pay particular tribute to Dan Rooney. This year let us reassert our pride and faith in this Prize, and our thanks to Dan and Patricia Rooney, on behalf of the whole country.

This is a Prize indelibly associated with its founders and we’re so delighted that the Rooney Family connection is holding strong. Dan and Patricia’s nephew, Peter Rooney, is now taking over the Prize. Peter is a Dublin resident and for the last number of years - indeed since I’ve become Provost - he has accompanied Dan and Patricia to the prize-giving every year, so he is already a friend to the College and to the Prize. We are delighted to welcome him and his husband, John Curran, here tonight. We thank them, on behalf of the arts in this country, for their generous support and their enthusiastic commitment.

The Rooney Prize has done its founders, and winners – and their readers – proud for 40 years; and will continue to do so.

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For over a decade now, the Prize has been administered by the Oscar Wilde Centre for Irish Literature in the School of English, here in Trinity. It’s a tremendous honour for the university to manage and administer this prestigious prize.

A prize is only as good as its judges. The Oscar Wilde Centre takes particular care in choosing the judging committee, drawing from within the School of English and outside the university. This is Gerard Dawe’s final year; he is retiring as chairperson of the judging committee. He was wonderful in this role. We thank him most sincerely.

Rosie Lavan, assistant professor of Irish Studies in the Trinity School of English and the School’s Literary Arts Officer, is now joining the Rooney Prize Committee. She joins:

  • Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, poet, critic, Ireland Professor of Poetry, and Fellow Emeritus of Trinity College.
  • Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, novelist, dramatist and lecturer in creative writing in UCD;
  • Carlo Gebler, novelist and playwright;
  • Riana O'Dwyer, senior lecturer in English at NUI Galway; and
  • Jonathan Williams, literary agent and editor.

On behalf of the university, and indeed of literature lovers everywhere, I thank the Committee for the work they have put into this Prize.
The Oscar Wilde Centre and Trinity’s School of English include among its staff and graduates significant names in literature. We are very proud of it, and its role in releasing the creative potential of future writers and supporting the practice of literature in Ireland and the world.

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In the College’s current five-year Strategic Plan we affirm our commitment to (I quote) “contributing to the sustainability of culture and creative enterprise in the capital.” And ‘Contributing to the sustainability of culture’ involves doing all that’s necessary to create a flourishing literary ecosystem. That means supporting small publishing presses and literary journals; establishing excellent creative writing courses; providing writers’ bursaries and retreats - and supporting literary prizes that become markers of talent.

We thank Peter Rooney for putting confidence in the Oscar Wilde Centre to manage this truly extraordinary Prize.

And now I’d like to invite to the podium, committee member Riana O’Dwyer, to announce the winner of the 2017 Rooney Prize for Literature in this, its forty-first year.

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