Welcome
The Association of Irish Floral Artists (AOIFA), which was founded in 1973, is the official organisation of affiliated Floral Art Groups and Flower and Garden Clubs in Ireland.
Social Weekend Reschedule
Social Weekend Cancellation Letter January 2022.docxFlower Festival Viewing Cancellation
Letter of Cancellation January Viewing Day Flower Festival.docx
Winter 2021 Update
As the year comes to a close, the AOIFA Committee extends warmest wishes to all our members for a safe, comfortable Christmas.
It has been a year of much uncertainty but so many of us have found creative ways to keep in touch and safely continue to share the art of flower arranging despite everything.
We can't wait to welcome you back in 2022, especially to the Flower Festival (forms now available here) and wish you all a very Happy New Year.
AOIFA Executive
2021 Virtual Poetry Competition
The results of the 2021 Virtual Poetry competition hosted by Bridget Morley are as follows:
1st Place: Emma Champ, Naas Flower & Garden Club
2nd Place: Nicola Desmond, Kinsale Garden & Flower Club
3rd Place: Mary Cowhig, Owenabue Flower and Garden Club
“Wait till I tell you what’s been going on,”
he slumps in his nest of a chair,
clutches the cigarette, places the lighter in his lips.
The goings-on are from forty years prior,
but I still want to hear them.
Time shared multiplies, and I’ll take all I can get.
Shades of him pepper my habits now -
cold coffee forgotten on the mantlepiece,
appreciation for a good woollen jumper.
Waning comprehension of the world beyond,
but still understanding me better than anyone.
My name is lost to time, my heart is not.
- Emma Champ, Naas Flower & Garden Club
Wait till I tell you what's been going on,
In the last 18 months all normality's gone.
Instead, our lives have become very strange,
The Covid pandemic has caused such a change
When the virus arrived, in a rather odd caper
Some people began bulk-buying loo paper.
Though grocery shopping was once a chore,
It's more entertaining than before,
For since Covid-19 came
It's turned into a guessing game.
Since most people wear a mask,
What was once a mundane task
Has become weekly puzzle,
"Name the face behind the muzzle!"
In a life without Covid, 'would be my first task
To go out and burn this thrice-cursed mask.
I'd place it on top of a funeral pyre,
Then gleefully watch the flames leaping higher,
In the last 18 months, I've become it's despiser,
How I long for a time without this damned visor!
Mary Cowhig - Owenabue Flower and Garden Club
Wait till I tell you what’s been going on….
So, let’s go back it won’t take long, a little adventure we did take and off to India we did make
On return oh what a surprise to be greeted by hand sanitiser and masks alike
Confined to our homes, no clubs could meet, Eileen O’Brien online sure no one could beat,
Then the call came no show, in the field we can’t go, get the classes together and online we will go
We’ve zoomed in and out, gone live and recorded, but without doubt our friendships survived it.
So, the vaccines delivered the doors are reopened, were back to the meetings the dems and the teachings
So, lets rally the troops from Malin to the Old Head and descend on the west and do what we do best.
- By Nicola Desmond, Kinsale Garden & Flower Club
Results of Floral Artist of the Year and Interclub Competition Heats
Floral Artist of the Year
Conna
Qualifiers
Kathleen Barrett - Newcastlewest Flower Club
Eva Holmes - Kilkenny Flower Club
Sandra Jackson - Conna and District Flower & Garden Club
Reserve 1
Malcolm Kitt - Cobh Flower and Garden Club
Reserve 2
Helen Mullany - Cork Flower Club
Dunboyne
Qualifiers
Adrienne Thompson - Naas Flower & Garden Club
Karen Robinson - Wexford Flower Club
Harumi Langford - South Dublin Flower Club
Sharon O' Sullivan - Sutton Floral Art Group
Candy Holten - Ardee Flower Club
Lorraine O' Brien - South Dublin Flower Club
Reserve 1
Maeve Duke - Doddervale Flower Club
Reserve 2
Maureen Fagan - Maynooth Flower & Garden Club
Interclub Competition
Conna
Qualifiers
Clonakilty Flower Club
Cork Flower Club
Kilkenny Flower Club
Reserve 1
Wexford Flower Club
Reserve 2
Owenabue Garden and Flower Club
Dunboyne
Qualifiers
South Dublin Flower Club
Maynooth Flower & Garden Club
Reserve 1
Navan Flower & Garden Club
Our Spring Programme on AOIFA Facebook Page
"Inspired by" Teaching Demonstrations by AOIFA Teachers
Favourites through the Gardening Year by Bríd Kelleher, Sutton Floral Art Group
Spotlight on some AOIFA Clubs who have managed to negotiate Lockdown and stay in touch with their members online