The AAI Awards were established in 1986 as "an annual award scheme for excellence in architectural design". The intentions of the Awards are:
- to encourage higher standards of architecture throughout the country
- to recognise projects which make a contribution to Irish architecture
- to inform the public of emerging directions in contemporary architecture The Awards are open to architects practising in Ireland and Irish architects practising in their own right abroad, submitting current projects and buildings.
Entries are judged by a panel of five assessors - a foreign assessor, two invited Irish assessors, a representative of the previous year's Award winners, and a distinguished non-architect. This year's foreign assessor was Alberto Campo Baeza.
The results are exhibited and published annually as New Irish Architecture. The publication contains assessors' commentary as well as more extensive project descriptions than listed above.

The second Arts Council/OPW architecture award - the Kevin Kieran Award will be given in 2004.

The successful applicant will receive a bursary of 50,000 Euro and a building contract by the OPW. Named after the late Kevin Kieran, architect, tutor and former consultant to the Arts Council, this award aims to support the artistic formation and career development of the architect and to direct funding towards architectural excellence and innovation.

The award offers an emerging and gifted architect an opportunity to develop and deliver a research project in the first instance.
Subsequently the architect will be contracted to design and run a building for the Office of Public Works (OPW).
The Arts Council is pleased to announce that Dominic Stevens has been awarded the Kevin Kieran Award for 2005 - 2007. The value of the award is €50,000. There are two aspects to the award: a research project and a contract from the Office of Public Works (OPW).

The Irish Architecture Awards, which travel to approximately 20 venues around Ireland and to London, are intended to communicate the range, variety and quality of the Architects work in any one year. The Regional Awards do not attempt to identify the building of the year or to single out any one building as being the most significant in the year ; such judgements are for the RIAI Medal Awards.

Only projects designed by RIAI and RSUA members shall be eligible and those eligible for RIAI membership. Any member of the Institute may nominate any project or projects for consideration, including any designed by that architect. The Council may nominate projects for consideration.
The Jury shall be appointed by Council and shall not take part in the assessment of projects in their own region. The Award consist of a plaque prepared by the Institute and specifying the Category, the name of the building and architect. Best Building in the Landscape Works shall be defined to include new buildings, refurbishment, conservation, restoration, interior design, amenity projects and landscaping.
The Office of Public Works is sponsoring a Special Award for an Accessible Building.

The Heritage Council are sponsoring a Special Award for Best Practice in a Conservation / Restoration Project.
The awards and submissions are used as a basis for selection of projects for publication in Architecture Ireland. The Awards and exhibited entries will be published.

Special Awards
RIAI Gold Medal
The RIAI awards a Gold Medal for the design of a building of exceptional merit completed within a three year period. The purpose of the Award is to encourage the development of architecture in Ireland and to give recognition to Architects of distinction.

RIAI Medal for Housing
The Award is made to encourage excellence in the design of housing and to give recognition to Architects of distinction. The term housing is interpreted broadly to include housing schemes and blocks of apartments, both public and private.
Medal for Architectural Conservation

The Award is made to encourage conservation of buildings of architectural merit in Ireland and to give recognition to Architects of distinction. The term conservation is interpreted to include works of preservation, restoration, adaptation and maintenance of buildings and sites.

RIAI Medal for Restoration
The purpose of the Award is to encourage the scholarly restoration of buildings and to give recognition to Architects of merit.