Large crowds expected for Delvin's monster book fair

After over a year of preparations, a record-breaking weekend is finally set to arrive for the people of Delvin, with somewhere between 20,000 and 22,000 books going on sale in the village this coming Sunday. The controversially named Delvin 'Garradrimna' Book Fair has grabbed plenty of attention nationwide, and the organisers hope that crowds will come from across the midlands this bank holiday weekend, to peruse and buy some of the thousands of books on offer. All funds raised from what is expected to be the midlands' largest ever event of its kind will go towards the effort to build a state-of-the-art community sporting centre near Ballyhealy, Delvin, a truly community-based project which is already well underway. The book festival will take place between 12 noon and 6pm on the grounds of Delvin's cattle mart, which is located on the Clonmellon Road. Michael Murphy and Paul Carolan, who have worked on behalf of the Delvin Sports and Leisure Centre committee to co-ordinate the event, amassed thousands of books from all genres since collection points were opened across Delvin and Westmeath last year. In a brave but good-humoured move, the DSLC committee decided to centre the event around Brinsley MacNamara's controversial book, 'The Valley of the Squinting Windows'. 'The Valley', published in 1918, caused consternation in Delvin when locals realised that the fictional town on which the book was based, 'Garradrimna', was a literary representation of the village. Furthermore, they realised that characters in the book were less than charitable caricatures of real people who existed in Delvin at the time. Court cases, public book burnings and no shortage of friction in the community followed. Ninety-two years later, the organisers of the Delvin 'Garradrimna' Book Fair hope to exorcise these ghosts by making 'The Valley' the focus of this unique book festival. Local celebrities have been invited to attend, including star of stage and screen, Mary McEvoy, along with Lyric FM host and former RTÉ newscaster, Eamonn Lawlor, who will perform guest readings of 'The Valley of the Squinting Windows' as part of the day's events. Mary, best known for her role as Biddy Byrne in 'Glenroe' and her reputation as one of Ireland's finest stage actors, was born in Delvin, and lives there today. Eamonn, meanwhile, hosts RTÉ Lyric FM's 'Lyric Concert' programme, and is a former RTE 'Six One News' host, and a former co-presenter on RTE's 'Prime Time'. Admission to the event is free, and free parking will be made available on the cattle mart grounds, and at other locations. Thousands of hardback and paperback books will be on offer, with paperbacks going at 50c, and hardbacks at €1.