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Jimmy Deenihan TD Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht congratulated Colum Mc Cann on winning the largest fiction prize in the World at the Impac Awards earlier this evening.

At the award ceremony held in Dublin, Colum Mc Cann, winner of the 2009 National Book Award in the US and 2010 Best Foreign Novel Award in China completed the hat trick for his now world famous book ‘Let the Great World Spin and picked up the €100,000 prize money at the Impac awards.

Minister Deenihan described the book as a breathtaking and a brave novel. "I am delighted that an Irish writer has once again won this prestigious international award. This underscores the enormous esteem in which Irish writers and literature is held." said the Minister.

The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is the largest and most international prize of its kind It involves libraries from all corners of the globe, and is open to books written in any language.

The Award, an initiative of Dublin City Council, is a partnership between Dublin City Council, the Municipal Government of Dublin City, and IMPAC, a productivity improvement company which operates in over 50 countries.