We’re tops again for sport

The standard of sports writing in the Irish Examiner has been recognised by the National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI) awards for the second successive year.

Ewan MacKenna’s brilliantly insightful series of how sport can be a panacea for many of the social and economic issues in depressed communities was rewarded yesterday as McKenna was named sports reporter of the year at the NNI awards.

The sports columnist of the year went to Eamonn Sweeney, formerly of the Irish Examiner and now writing for the Sunday Independent. He succeeds last year’s sports journalist of the year, Kieran Shannon, also of the Irish Examiner.