Irish Examiner scoops two awards at the 2019 Newsbrands Ireland Journalism Awards

Irish Examiner journalists were victorious at this year's News Brands Ireland Journalism Awards, winning two awards and receiving six nominations.

Cathal Dennehey's work in The Irish Examiner took home the Sports Journalist Broadsheet award.

David O'Mahony beat five other nominees to win the prestigious Front Page of the year for his powerful front page featuring journalist Lyra McKee after she was tragically killed by the IRA in Derry.

Mr O'Mahony, Executive production editor at the Irish Examiner said: “It's a great vote of confidence in everyone involved in the production of the daily paper, that people still value what we put on the front page – and that it makes an impact.

“It's terrible that the page had to focus on the death of a young woman but we tried to be as sensitive as we could . We wanted to convey something of her spirit even as her death recalled the darkest days of the troubles.”

Speaking after his win, Mr Dennehy said: "Shock is the overall emotion. I was nominated along with the heavyweights of Irish sports journalism who could write me under the table any day of the week. They are world class writers.

"I was delighted to be nominated but thought I had a 0% chance of winning, so when my name was called I was completely shocked.

"I have to say a huge thanks to the people I wrote about - David Campbell, Thomas Chamney and Shane Healy.

"The Examiner is great, I love writing for them. They give so much space to the stories that need to be told. It's the only paper that will give that space."

And the Irish Examiner received four additional nominations including for the title of News Website of the Year. Joe Leogue was nominated in the competitive category of Journalist of the Year.

Conall O'Fatharta was nominated for Campaigning journalist of the Year for his tenacious and incisive work in illegal adoptions. And Michael Clifford was nominated for Columnist of the Year.

Irish Examiner Editor Allan Prosser welcomed the awards as a recognition of the newspaper's continuing commitment to quality journalism delivered at both a local and a national level.

He said:"We set out our stall to provide the very best in sports coverage judged by news values, quality images and graphics and, most important of all, telling stories in a cogent, reliable, and entertaining fashion. Cathal Dennehy has proved himself a master of long-form writing and it is important that publishers encourage such distinctive talents by providing them with the space they need.

Renowned journalist and editor Paddy Clancy was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Paddy has held high executive positions in Irish and British national papers and radio. He was the Bureau Chief for The Irish Sun since its launch in Ireland, as well as going on to be a regular columnist for that paper and the Irish Mirror more recently.

During a celebrated career, he has covered many major stories at home and abroad. He crossed what was regarded as the most dangerous 100 kilometres in Africa when President Mary Robinson was the first Western Head of State to enter war-ravaged Somalia and he also reported from Derry during Bloody Sunday in 1972.

He is also remembered as the presenter who brought his own distinctive style to RTE Radio’s Morning Ireland slot, What It Says In The Papers, for almost three decades.

Other winners at tonight's ceremony included Sunday Times journalist Mark Tighe who won both Journalist of the Year 2019, and Scoop of the Year.

Tighe was also part of the team to win the Investigative Journalism and Campaigning Journalism awards for their exposure of issues around corporate governance in the Football Association of Ireland.

The award was presented by former Irish Examiner editor, Tim Vaughan, who is now the Chairman of the Journalism Awards Judging Panel, Vincent Crowley, Chairperson of NewsBrands Ireland, and Andrew Algeo, CEO of the National Lottery who sponsor the Awards.

Mr Vaughan said that the Journalist of the Year award went to a journalist whose tenacious work “has led to a raft of stunning revelations that raised huge question marks about governance and transparency at one of the country’s most high profile organizations.”

A total of 26 category awards were presented at today’s ceremony in Dublin’s Mansion House. The awards span all areas and disciplines of modern journalism and are open to work published in print, website, online, mobile, video, or audio.

A full list of winners and nominees are below:

Business Story of the Year

WINNER: Fearghal O’Connor, Sunday Independent

Donal O’ Donovan, Irish Independent

Barry J Whyte, The Sunday Business Post

Jack Power, The Irish Times

Michael O’ Farrell, The Irish Mail on Sunday

Samantha McCaughren, Sunday Independent

Business Journalist of the Year:

WINNER: Michael O’ Farrell, The Irish Mail on Sunday

Donal O’ Donovan, Irish Independent

Joe Brennan, The Irish Times

Lorcan Allen, Irish Farmers’ Journal

Fearghal O’ Connor, Sunday Independent

Samantha McCaughren, Sunday Independent

Campaigning Journalism

WINNER: The Sunday Times (FAI)

Irish Examiner (Illegal Adoptions)

The Irish Times (No Child)

Irish Daily Mail (Protect our Kids Online)

Irish Independent ( Insurance costs)

The Irish Mail on Sunday ( Bishop Casey)

Columnist Broadsheet

WINNER: Hilary Fannin, The Irish Times

Fintan O’Toole, The Irish Times

Mick Clifford, Irish Examiner

Colin Murphy, The Sunday Business Post

Declan Lynch, Sunday Independent

Larissa Nolan, The Sunday Times

Columnist Popular

WINNER: Larissa Nolan, Irish Daily Mirror

Roslyn Dee, Irish Daily Mail

Billy Scanlon, Irish Daily Star

Philip Nolan, Irish Daily Mail

Neil Cotter, The Irish Sun

Pat Flanagan, Irish Daily Mirror

Crime Journalist of the Year

WINNER: Nicola Tallant, Sunday World

Robin Schiller, The Herald

Ken Foy, The Herald

Patrick O’Connell, Sunday World

Paul Healy, Irish Daily Star

Stephen Breen, The Irish Sun

Crime Story of the Year

WINNER:Norma Costello, The Irish Mail on Sunday

Gary Meneely, The Irish Sun

Robin Schiller, The Herald

Paul Healy, Irish Daily Star

Nicola Tallant Sunday World

Stephen Breen, The Irish Sun

Critic of the Year

WINNER: Liam Fay, The Sunday Times

Catherine Cleary, The Irish Times

Pat Stacey, The Herald

Patrick Freyne, The Irish Times

Fintan O’Toole, The Irish Times

Niamh Donnelly, The Irish Times

Features Broadsheet Writer of the Year

WINNER: Conor Gallagher, The Irish Times

Kim Bielenberg, Irish Independent

Rosita Boland, The Irish Times

Conor Pope, The Irish Times

Maeve Sheehan, Sunday Independent

Barry J Whyte, The Sunday Business Post

Features Popular

WINNER: Catherine Fegan, Irish Daily Mail

Eoin Murphy, Irish Daily Mail

Jenny Friel, Irish Daily Mail

Aoife Bannon, The Irish Sun

Nicola Bardon, The Irish Sun

Kayla Walsh, Irish Mirror

Foreign Coverage

WINNER: Sally Hayden, The Irish Times

Marion McKeone, Sunday Business Post

Patrick Freyne, The Irish Times

Derek Scally, The Irish Times

Suzanne Lynch, The Irish Times

Lara Marlowe, The Irish Times

Front Page of the Year

WINNER: Irish Examiner: Lyra

The Irish Sun: Bludgeoned to Death

Irish Daily Mirror: Ex-soldier’s hell living in a car

Irish Daily Star: Fly me to the moon

The Irish Sun: Inside the Regency

The Irish Sun: Fr Cleary’s homeless son

Headline of the Year

WINNER: The Irish Sun

Irish Daily Star: Pot Noodles

The Irish Sun: Fairy Tale of New Walk

Irish Daily Mirror: Ballybrack from the Dead

Irish Daily Mirror: Meth the Lord be with you

Irish Daily Star: Arís an Uachtaráin

The Irish Sun: One Footie in the Grave

Investigative Journalism

WINNER: Mark Tighe, Colin Coyle, and Paul Rowan, The Sunday Times

Jack Power, The Irish Times

Ellen Coyne and Katie O’ Neill, The Times, Ireland edition

Carl O’ Brien, The Irish Times

Craig Farrell and Neil Cotter, The Irish Sun

Irish Independent Political team

Anne Sheridan, Irish Mail on Sunday

News Reporter of the Year

WINNER: Mark Tighe, Sunday Times

Shane Phelan, Irish Independent

Michael O’Farrell, Irish Mail on Sunday

Eilish O’Regan, Irish Independent

Joe Leogue, Irish Examiner

Stephen Breen, The Irish Sun

News Website/News App of the Year

WINNER: Irishtimes.com | https://www.irishtimes.com

Irishexaminer.com | https://www.irishexaminer.com/

TheSun.ie | https://www.thesun.ie

Independent.ie | https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/elections-2019/

Extra.ie | https://www.extra.ie

IrishMirror.ie | http://www.irishmirror.ie/

Podcast of the Year

WINNER: The Floating Voter, Independent.ie

Atlantic, The Irish Times

Karl Henry Real Health, Independent.ie

The Left Wing, Independent.ie

Inside Politics, The Irish Times

The Women’s Podcast, The Irish Times

Political Journalist of the Year

WINNER: Kevin Doyle, Irish Independent

Peter O’Dwyer, The Times, Ireland Edition

Philip Ryan, Sunday Independent

Michael Brennan, Sunday Business Post

John Lee,The Irish Mail on Sunday

Pat Leahy, The Irish Times

Political Story of the Year

WINNER: Peter O’Dwyer, The Times, Ireland Edition

Michael O’Farrell, The Irish Mail on Sunday

Mark Tighe, The Sunday Times

Kevin Doyle, Irish Independent (Peter Casey story)

Jennifer Bray and Martin Wall, The Irish Times

Cormac McQuinn, Shane Phelan, Kevin Doyle, Irish Independent

Scoop of the Year

WINNER: Mark Tighe, The Sunday Times

Kevin Doyle/Tom Brady/Robin Schiller, Irish Independent

Kevin Doyle, Irish Independent

Peter O’ Dwyer, The Times, Ireland Edition

Ali Bracken, Irish Daily Mail

Showbiz Journalist of the Year

WINNER: Eddie Rowley, Sunday World

Barry Moran, The Irish Sun

Jenny Friel, The Irish Daily Mail

Barry Egan, The Sunday Independent

Paul Healy, The Irish Daily Star

Gary Meneely, The Irish Sun

Showbiz Story of the Year

WINNER: Barry Moran, The Irish Sun

Gary Meneely, The Irish Sun

Eddie Rowley, The Sunday World

Craig Hughes, The Irish Mail on Sunday

Paul Healy, The Irish Daily Star

Sports Journalist Broadsheet

WINNER: Cathal Dennehy, freelance (Irish Examiner/Irish Independent)

Vincent Hogan, Irish Independent

Keith Duggan, The Irish Times

Malachy Clerkin, The Irish Times

Shane McGrath, The Irish Mail on Sunday

Declan Bogue, Irish Examiner

Sports Journalist Popular

WINNER: Roy Curtis, Sunday World/The Herald

Dave Coughlan, Irish Daily Star

Gary Meneely, The Irish Sun

Derek Foley, Irish Daily Star

Philip Lanigan, Irish Daily Mail

Brian Flanagan, Irish Daily Star

Best Use of Video

WINNER: Simon Carswell and Enda O’ Dowd, The Irish Times

Kathleen Harris, The Irish Times

Anne O’Donoghue, Irish Farmer’s Journal

Johnny Brew, Kyran O’ Brien, Laura Lynott, Mick Carolan, Independent.ie

Enda O’Dowd, The Irish Times

Bryan O’ Brien and Colm Keena, The Irish Times

Young Journalist of the Year

WINNER: Jack Power, The Irish Times

Shauna Bowers, The Times, Ireland edition

Sarah Burns, The Irish Times

Catherine Devine, Irish Independent

Robin Schiller, The Herald

Will Slattery, Independent.ie