THE Murphy's Cat Laughs Comedy Festival has won the annual Cothu award for sponsorship of the arts. Murphy Brewery Ireland said last night that it was "absolutely thrilled" with the prize. The event took place in Kilkenny during the summer and was produced by Bickerstaffe. Its star attraction was the comedian Bill Murray.

Cothu, the business council for the arts, annually honours the business sponsor of an arts event that it believes has been most imaginative and effective.