Eight awardees honoured for excellence at UCD Smurfit School Business Journalist Awards
Posted 14 December 2021
Breege O’Donoghue, 2021 Chair of UCD Smurfit School Business Journalist Awards Judging Panel, and Professor Gerardine Doyle, Director of UCD Smurfit School and Associate Dean of UCD College of Business. Photo: Orla Murray
Ireland’s top business journalists have had their work recognised at the (opens in a new window)2021 UCD Smurfit School Business Journalist Awards.
Now in their 14th year, the awards, which champion excellence in business journalism in print, broadcast and online media, celebrated the achievements of eight awardees this year.
The recipients of the 2021 awards were:
- Business News Story of the Year: Joe Brennan, The Irish Times, for his submission - “(opens in a new window)NatWest may wind down Ulster Bank in Republic”.
- Business Podcast of the Year: Gavin McLoughlin, Newstalk for his submission - “(opens in a new window)Taking Stock: The Reformation of Welfare: The New Faith of the Labour Market with Dr. Ray Griffin”.
- Business Feature of the Year: Tom Lyons, The Currency for his submission - “(opens in a new window)Davy in disgrace: Part 1 – the Belfast developer, the Davy bond dealer and the ex-Anglo banker”.
- Specialist Business Reporter of the Year: Killian Woods, Business Post, for his submissions - "(opens in a new window)State invested in ‘cuckoo fund’ that snapped up hundreds of Maynooth homes” and “(opens in a new window)Many first-time buyers will be frozen out of purchasing new apartments".
- Business Interview of the Year: Killian Woods, Business Post, for his interview with Property Developer Johnny Ronan - “(opens in a new window)The high-rise of the Ronan empire”.
- Upcoming Journalist of the Year: Devin Sean Martin, The Currency, for his submissions: “(opens in a new window)Piggybacks, monopolies and 5G: What a Virgin Media sale would mean for Ireland’s telecoms market”; “(opens in a new window)Rough seas: How hiked shipping prices are challenging Irish exporters”; and “(opens in a new window)Lift-off: How Irish start-ups are rocketing into the space industry”.
This year, a new award was added, the Outstanding Achievement in Industry Award; which recognised (opens in a new window)The Currency for the organisation’s groundbreaking work in championing long-form business journalism on a digital platform in Ireland.
In addition to these seven awardees, an Outstanding Achievement Award was presented to Dearbhail McDonald for her contribution to journalism.
Over the last 20 years, Ms McDonald has written prolifically about legal affairs, religious affairs, health, politics and business.
She has also covered extensively the areas of diversity and inclusion, including gender equality, an issue she has raised with the Future of Media Commission, in her capacity as a co-founder of the Equality Expert Group and through her association with organisations like ‘Women on Air’.
The (opens in a new window)UCD Smurfit School Business Journalist Awards are run in conjunction with the Business Journalists Association of Ireland.
This year’s independent panel of judges was chaired by Breege O’Donoghue, Primark Brand Ambassador; and was comprised of academic, journalistic and business representatives.
By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations
