"Despite all the difficulties of the past decade, Irish people still love books--browsing, choosing, buying, gifting and reading them," the Irish Times observed in highlighting "35 of the best independent bookshops in Ireland."
"A truly great bookshop is where all of those things can happen at once," the Irish Times wrote. "If you're lucky enough to have one in your community, there are good reasons to support it." Economist Jim Power wrote in a report for the Irish Booksellers Association: "The benefits of local booksellers to Irish communities extend beyond the standard contributions to turnover, GDP, employment... These less tangible 'spillover' benefits are... important in the context of the overall social, cultural and economic contribution that bookshops make to the Irish economy."