Irish Examiner gets nine nominations in Irish Journalism Awards

The 'Troubled Ground' podcast, researched and presented by journalist Alison O’Reilly. was nominated n the Podcast of the Year category.

The Irish Examiner has received nine nominations for this year's Irish Journalism Awards across a range of categories.

In the Podcast of the Year category, it was nominated for the Troubled Ground podcast, researched and presented by journalist Alison O’Reilly.

The two-part podcast in July explored, as part of the Irish Examiner's Full Story podcast series, the historic exhumation of a mass grave at the site of the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Co Galway, involving the remains of 796 infants and children.

Among those interviewed, Ms O’Reilly met local historian Catherine Corless, who first uncovered the existence of the burial site and whose research ultimately led to the excavation.

The podcast also revisited the origins of the Tuam Babies story, beginning in 2014 with Catherine Corless’s research into the deaths of hundreds of children at the Tuam Mother and Baby Home.

Chani Anderson received a nomination in the Best Video Journalism category for three videos. One of these, which she recorded with reporter Alison O’Reilly, included an exclusive interview with Frances 'Fran' O’Keeffe.

She had shared a foster care room with 'Grace', the intellectually disabled woman who was put in the care of two abusive foster carers with criminal convictions.

Grace’s case eventually led to a State Commission of Investigation which highlighted “systemic failings” by the South Eastern Health Board (SEHB) which led to Grace being neglected and abused.

Irish Examiner special correspondent Mick Clifford was nominated in the Columnist category and both he and Crime Correspondent Cormac O’Keeffe were nominated in the Features category.

Health Correspondent Niamh Griffin’s interviews earlier this year with some of the 1.1 million refugees who fled from the civil war in Sudan helped earn her a nomination in the Foreign Coverage category.

Political editor Elaine Loughlin has been nominated in the Political journalist category, and Vickie Maye, the features editor of the Irish Examiner's Weekend magazine, has been nominated in the Magazine of the Year category.

The Irish Examiner’s Visual Media and News Desks received a nomination for the Digital Innovation of the Year award.