When the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity takes place in France next week, some 59 people from the Irish advertising industry will attend, with the Institute of Advertising Practitioners of Ireland (IAPI) leading the charge.

"It's about seeing the best creative work that's out there and coming back with our mojo intact, and a feeling of 'we can do this'. There's no reason why we can't win global accounts," says IAPI chief executive Tania Banotti.

“One of the more concerning findings” from IAPI’s latest Industry Census study is a fall in income for creative agencies, with the Irish market losing business to London and elsewhere.

The industry here assesses itself to be “pretty cautious” in the work it does produce, attributing this to an unwillingness among clients to sanction creative risks.

So agencies here don’t tend to compete for the coveted Lions awards.

It’s expensive for Irish creative agencies to enter work into competition at Cannes “without much hope of winning”, Banotti says.

There are still clear opportunities to network and sending what is said to be the largest ever Irish delegation to Cannes should help promote the Irish industry, she adds, “but the battle will not be won overnight”.