Paul Mescal, Wolfwalkers and Nicola Coughlan among the winners at the IFTAs

IFTA Awards 2021 hosted by Gráinne Seoige  on Sunday evening on Virgin Media One. Actress Nicola Coughlan joined in the ceremony virtually. Picture: IFTA

Nicola Coughlan, Paul Mescal and Wolfwalkers were among the winners of this year’s IFTA awards, which were hosted virtually on Sunday night.

Normal People won the IFTA for Best Drama, as part of an impressive nine wins out of15 nominations.

This included Paul Mescal winning best actor in a drama, and Lenny Abrahamson for best director of a drama.

Lenny Abrahamson joined from the set of ‘ Normal People follow-up Conversations with Friends to receive his award, while actor Tom Vaughan-Lawlor presented producers Catherine Magee and Emma Norton with the award for Best Drama. Sunday night’s awards were a star-studded affair with Mark Hamill, Colin Farrell, Olivia Coleman, Travis Fimmel, and Josh Brolin among the line-up of guests at the ceremony.

Wolfwalkers won Best Film, the second time in the history of the IFTA awards that an animated movie has won in this category. Nicola Coughlan won this year's IFTA Rising Star Award for her performance in Netflix’s worldwide smash Bridgerton. 

Nika McGuigan won Best Actress for her performance in Wildfire which was in post-production when the actress died in 2019. Accepting the award on her behalf, Nika’s father Olympic boxer Barry McGuigan, and mother Sandra said they were “very, very proud and overwhelmed”. 

Her brother Blane said: "Nika’s performance speaks for herself. It is the culmination of years of hard work. Nika tirelessly grafted to become the best actor she could be and in Wildfire she found a vehicle that let her express herself artistically like she had never been able to do before. It is tragic that Nika did not get to show the world more of her endless talent, but this award and its recognition of her brilliant performance would have meant everything to Danika." 

Director Cathy Brady won the award for best director for Wildfire, singling out her leads.

"Can I say a big, huge thanks to Nika and Nora-Jane, the beating heart of this film? You made me the best director, and this is for you. I’m so proud and you are my forever dream team."