Trad star wows well Scripted music awards

AFTER a day spent celebrating our Irishness, international and homegrown stars flocked to the RDS last night to pay tribute to the big names in Irish music.

Presented by Amanda Byram, the 2009 Meteor Ireland Music Awards saw Pádraig Harrington, Louis Walsh, Pat Kenny, Jasmine Guinness, Caprice, Bernard Dunne and The Simpsons’ Nancy Cartwright hand out the sought-after gongs.

Superb live performances included Stereophonics, James Morrison, Elbow, Gabriella Cilmi, Imelda May, Duke Special, Boyzone and The Blizzards.

And the celebrations reached a crescendo with Sharon Shannon and Mundy wowing the crowd with Galway Girl, the Most Downloaded Song for the second year running.

But it was The Script’s night, with the band heading home with two of the top awards — best album and best band as voted for by the public.

Of the 19 awards handed out, eight were chosen by the public. Best National DJ award went to Today FM’s Ray Foley for the second consecutive year.

Imelda May was Best Irish Female while Cork man Mick Flannery was voted Best Irish Male for the ninth consecutive year. Westlife picked the award for Best Irish Pop Act.

The Blizzards scooped the Best Irish Live Performance for their gig at Oxegen last year while Wallis Bird picked up the Hope for 2009 Meteor Award.

The Humanitarian Award was presented to Fr Shay Cullen of the Preda Foundation, along with a cheque for e100,000.

The Industry award was presented to renowned Hot Press editor Niall Stokes with Sharon Shannon picking up the Lifetime Achievement Award.

*The Meteor Ireland Music Awards will be broadcast on RTÉ Two tonight at 9pm.