Taylor for nominated RTÉ award

World lightweight champion Katie Taylor has been nominated for the RTÉ Sports Person of the year award.

Taylor, from the St Fergal's club in Bray, has been included on a shortlist of ten for the award which will be announced live on RTÉ One next Saturday night

The 20-year-old Bray woman won her world title in India last November just a few months after clinching her second European title on the trot in Poland.

European super bantamweight champ Bernard Dunne has also been nominated along with golfers Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke.

Rugby, GAA and Athletics stars, Paul O'Connell, Kieran Donaghy, Henry Sheffin, and Derval O'Rourke. Racing trainer Aidan O'Brien, and show jumper Jessica Kurten have also been included on the shortlist.

The winner will be announced during , 2006, The Sporting Year, which will be broadcast on RTÉ One this Saturday night.

The judging panel for the Sports Person of the year award, which is being ran in conjunction with the Irish Sports Council, will include Chairperson Tom McGuirk, Eamon Dunphy, George Hook, Pat Spillane, Cyril Farrell, Ted Walsh, and Jerry Kiernan.

The shortlist for the award were whittled down to ten from almost 2,000 nominations submitted to RTÉ.

RTÉ will also announced the Team of the Year Award on Saturday night, and for the first time ever the award will be open to a public vote.

Three finalists were chosen from the nominations which include the Triple Crown winning Irish International Rugby team, Heineken Cup winners Munster, and the victorious European Ryder Cup Golf Team.

The trio will battle it out as the public votes via phone and text during RTÉ’s 2006 The Sporting Year which begins at 9.45pm on RTÉ One.