Navan book club to host music show on RTÉ
A group of young adults with Down Syndrome is to hit the national airwaves with its own music show thanks to their Navan based public library book club.
Members of the ‘Stay up all Night Book Club’ in Navan have come to prominence through their role as judges on the junior jury of the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland (CBI) Book of the Year Awards 2025.
It earned them a special collective award for their endeavours, and now they are to anchor a music show on RTÉ KIDSjr, a multi-media channel, and separately make a short film.
Their ‘DJ for a Day’ show will air later this year when the Stay up all Night Book Club will air their favourite tunes.
Ireland Reads is the national campaign inspiring people to get lost in a good book this February.
Led by Libraries Ireland and culminating in a nationwide celebration of reading on February 28, it encourages readers to explore recommendations from their local library, where special events will also take place to mark Ireland Reads 2026. Learn more at www.irelandreads.ie.
The self-named Stay up all Night Book Club is facilitated by librarians Geraldine Fanning and Geraldine Monaghan and began in 2023 when Navan Library was approached by Sinead Flynn and Cara Morgan of Down Syndrome Ireland.
It caters for a total of 10 young men and women with Down Syndrome, aged in their twenties, who meet at the library on the first Tuesday of each month to talk about a book they have read, explore online resources, including music, relating to the book.
“For me, it is one of the best things I have been involved with in 20 years with the Library Service. They are a lovely group,” says Geraldine Fanning.
“What started as a book club has taken legs and I feel anything is possible.
“We started with six or seven members, but that has grown to 10. One lives the local community.
“The rest live at home, and some work part-time. One member travels from Castleknock in Dublin and another from Drogheda.
“There is always news to catch up on. Some of the quieter members of the group have really grown in confidence.
“We find non-fiction books work best. Members get the book a month in advance. Their parents usually go through it with them. Then we talk about it.
“I search out an online resource to go with it. We always finish our meetings with a song as members are very into music. So, there is a bit of a singsong, and it is all great craic.
“There is great enthusiasm. Serious friendships have been forged. Many attend after a full day’s work and are exhausted. It can be a big deal for them to come.
“But they show up religiously and wanted to continue meeting throughout the summer – but we took a break for a month.”
The club was invited to take part in the junior jury for the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year Awards, 2025.
“We picked out three books, one of which was the overall winner, Fia and the Last Snow Deer, the debut novel by Wicklow-based author Eilish Fisher.”
The club received a collective award from the senior judging panel
As a result, RTÉ KIDSjr, which offers radio and online content, has asked the Stay up all Night Book Club to compile and anchor a half hour show of its favourite tunes.
This month, it will begin work on a media literacy project with Mullingar film maker, Fiona McGinty.
The Stay up all Night Book Club will make a short film and learn about acting, film making and media literacy through a six to eight week course funded by Creative Ireland and Meath County Council Library Services.