Every November, Irish news publishers gather in the Mansion House in Dublin to recognise the best work of the previous year. At a time when the values – and, for many outlets, the business models – that underpin a free press are facing real challenge, the Irish Journalism Awards ceremony is always a reminder of the vigour and vitality of the industry at its best.
The Irish Times won eight awards on Wednesday at this year’s ceremony – more than any other title. Over 50 of our journalists had been shortlisted.
The overall award, Journalist of the Year, went to Sally Hayden, who was also selected as the winner in two individual categories – Foreign Coverage and Feature Writer (Broadsheet). Sally has been based in the Middle East for the past year, and her winning portfolio of work encompassed assignments in Syria, Lebanon and the West Bank.
The Irish Times tends to dominate the foreign journalism category at the event. That reflects the quality of our reporters’ work but also the fact that we are the only Irish news organisation with a network of correspondents around the world. It’s a source of pride for us. The commitment to foreign coverage stems from a conviction that our subscribers’ curiosity does not stop at national borders – that, in a globalised world, the Irish experience is impossible to disentangle from what is happening in the rest of the world. We think there is value in an Irish perspective on world events, one that is not mediated through the lens of the two markets, British and American, that dominate English-language journalism.
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For those of you who follow the work of our overseas correspondents, I recommend signing up for our latest newsletter. Global Briefing, written by China Correspondent Denis Staunton and available first thing in the morning from Monday to Thursday, will bring you up to speed on the big stories of the day and showcase the best of our daily offering.
Róisín Ingle has done remarkable work over the past year, so few will have been surprised to see her win the Columnist of the Year (Broadsheet) award on Wednesday.
In the Arts and Criticism category, Rosita Boland won for work that included this reappraisal of Alice Munro and an elegant interview with Eileen Walsh.
The award for Best Video went to Chris Maddaloni, a talented videographer whose portfolio included this powerful piece on Sudanese refugees in Chad and a project on the reintroduction of white-tailed sea eagles in Ireland.
Ian O’Riordan was named Sportswriter of the Year (Broadsheet), and it will come as little surprise to regular readers that this enthralling interview with the cyclist Stephen Roche was one of the pieces selected for praise by the judging panel.
Finally, the award for News Reporter of the Year went to Ken Foxe, a contributor to The Irish Times. Ken, an authority on freedom of information laws, broke the story of the eye-wateringly extravagant Leinster House bike shed.
The prizes are welcome recognition of these individual colleagues’ work. But of course journalism is a team effort. Behind each of the winning stories is a large group of people who contributed in some way – the commissioning editor who handed out the assignment, the copy-editor who corrected and beautified it, the audience editor who made sure it found its readers, the lawyer who headed off legal threats, the visual media team members who enriched it, the print editors who laid it out with a sparkling headline, the printers who put it on paper and the drivers who made sure it landed on tens of thousands of doorsteps in physical form a few hours later. They can all take some of the credit.
Aside from our own work, the awards honoured some really superb journalism from other publications. You can find it all at irishjournalismawards.ie
Ruadhán Mac Cormaic
Editor
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