National finals of PPI and Nature competitions a great success

 
Dear Photographer,
The combined Print & Projected Image and Nature National Finals held in Kilkenny this past weekend were a major success for Irish photography. We managed to assess over 1100 images for the PPI and 600 images for the Nature events – a record entry. Moreover the attendance for both events was at record levels. Leo Rich, President of the PAGB, together with Vince Rooker and Valerio Perini put in a sterling performance in judging over both days.
This event would not have been the smooth and efficient success it was without the collaborative effort of our back room staff, namely Niamh Whitty, Jason Town and Paul Maher, supported by a very industrious crew from Kilkenny Photographic Society. What a team!
Our sponsors, Canon and Mahers Photographic deserve our huge gratitude for their sponsorship of the events in the form of most generous gift vouchers for the various winners. As always, Picturk provided invaluable software support. Our thanks to Paul Geraghty of Picturk for his ever present support.
The work invested in putting these events together is meticulous and ongoing, from the regional rounds and right through to late February, all masterminded by Michael O’Sullivan. On the surface it appears that all he has to do is turn up on the day, but in fact the preparatory work behind the scenes is very detailed and prolonged. So an enormous credit to Michael for developing the combined events into the success that it was over the past weekend.
Results and winning images from both competitions will be available online before the week is out.  As you can imagine, it takes a little time to verify and compile the results and round up the images and we appreciate your patience.
Finally, to you,the most important people of all, the photographers, whether you had success, or were an “also ran” like myself, my deepest gratitude. It was a great pleasure to sit in and watch this celebration of Irish photography last weekend.
And now, let’s start the work for next year!
John Cuddihy AIPF
President, IPF