Popular Clare news outlet secures 10 nominations for Local Ireland Media Awards

Nominations for this year’s Local Ireland Media Awards have been announced following a record number of entries, with the Clare Champion and its journalists making the shortlist. 

More than 700 entries were made for this year’s awards which introduced two new categories for 'Political Coverage of the Year' and 'Young Journalist of the Year.'

President of Local Ireland and Managing Director of the Southern Star, Seán Mahon said: “This year's Local Ireland Media Awards have seen record entries again from talented journalist, digital and commercial local newspaper personnel across Ireland, which just goes to show how people in our industry view the prestige associated with winning a category. I don't envy our judges who have a challenging job deciding on the winners due to the high quality of entries. 

“I'd also like to thank the National Lottery for their continued support of these awards. Working together is a great fit because both the National Lottery and all our local newspaper members are passionate about supporting local communities," he added. 

Among those nominated from the county were Clare Champion journalists Owen Ryan, Dan Danaher, Andrew Hamilton, Sharon Dolan d'Arcy and photographer John Kelly. 

Mr Ryan was nominated in three highly-regarded categories, including 'Feature Journalist of the Year' for his piece 'A tragedy waiting to happen', 'Best News Story' for his article 'Take those tablets and you will die' and even scooped the shortlist for 'Sports Journalist of the Year.'

Fellow Clare Champion journalist Dan Danaher was selected for 'Best News Series' for his article 'Country girl comes home.'

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As well as this, 'Is it safe to be gay in Clare?' landed Andrew Hamilton on the list of nominations for 'Best Diversity Journalist' and Sharon Dolan d'Arcy's 'Sensory garden in full bloom' saw her secure a nomination under the 'National Lottery Community Journalist of the Year' category. 

Photographer John Kelly was nominated for 'Best Photograph' following an image he took for the Clare Champion of Storm Ashely. 

As if things good not get better for the news outlet, the Clare Champion itself also secured three nominations. 

Under 'Best Supplement,' it was nominated twice for the 'Where west' magazine with the Connacht Tribune and the 'All Ireland hurling champions' supplement. 

The Clare Champion also was shortlisted in one of the new categories, 'Political Coverage of the Year.' 

The nineteen categories reflect the best of journalism, photography, design, digital initiatives and sales creativity and are part of the judging process. A special award for 'Lifetime Achievement' will also be made on behalf of the members of Local Ireland.

Chair of the judges, author, journalist and broadcaster Alison O’Connor said: “These awards highlight the excellence and diversity of local journalism. Picking winners in the different categories is always a challenging task for the judges - from the sharpness of the news stories to the well-crafted features, interviews and columns. All told, the standard shows how well communities around the country are served by their local newspapers.”

Joining Ms O’Connor on the judging panel are broadcaster and journalist Dearbhail McDonald, Emeritus Professor at TUD Michael Foley, Dawn Wheatley of DCU School of Communications, Managing Director of Kinetic Ireland Andrew Sinclair, photographer and former Irish Times picture editor Frank Miller, broadcaster and writer Valerie Cox, journalist and author PJ Cunningham, novelist and newspaper columnist Dr Martina Devlin, Policy Editor of the Business Post Daniel Murray, RTÉ journalist and presenter Katie Hannon, Deputy Night Editor of the Irish Sun Gerry McCarthy and DCU lecturer Conor Tiernan.

Winners of the awards will be announced at a gala dinner at the Mullingar Park Hotel on September 11. Host for the evening will be RTÉ and Lyric FM presenter Marty Whelan.

The awards are now in their tenth year with its headline sponsors, the National Lottery, on board for the eighth time. This year’s awards have also received support from Coimisiún na Meán.