Reopened Naas bookstore has the write stuff for eager shoppers

Many bookstores hope that customers will be snapping up some of the range of great books that have been published so far in 2021.

Store manager of Barker & Jones in Naas, Kate Hayes said the premises is currently gearing up for Father's Day on June 20.

Kate said: "Hopefully we have a busy summer ahead of us with Father's Day coming up.

"You will also have people looking for nice summer reads for their staycation holidays - and there has been a fantastic range of books published this year so far."

The latest new books include Mind Full by Today FM presenter Dermot Whelan which promises to be a "no-nonsense, incense-free, hilarious guide to relaxing the head, reducing anxiety and living a calmer life."

The Book of the Month for May is Hamnet By Maggie O'Farrell which was a Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction 2020.

Kate said that later in the summer, parents looking for school books for September.

Last month the unbrella body for bookstores called on the Government to designate the sector as essential retail - similar to other EU countries like France.

The organisation said that the survival of the bookselling sector in Ireland was very much at risk, and the loss of bookshops would be devastating for individuals and local communities.

Bookselling Ireland wrote to the Taoiseach highlighting what it claimed were inconsistencies within the current definitions of essential retail, with essential retailers that sell books being allowed to remain open while booksellers themselves have been forced to shut.

Bookshops in Ireland directly employ over 4,000 people and support other jobs in the supply chain, and a recent report noted that the sector is estimated to pay a wage bill of €35.9 million, all of which could be under threat.