Business journalists honoured for excellence at UCD Smurfit School Business Journalist Awards

Posted 10 December, 2024

The very best of business journalism in Ireland was recognised at the (opens in a new window)UCD Smurfit School Business Journalist Awards. 

Now in its 17th year, the Awards celebrates exceptional work by print, broadcasting and digital journalists across a number of categories.

“In a tumultuous time around the world, journalists play an ever-important role in highlighting business trends that have an impact in Ireland and beyond,” said (opens in a new window)Professor Federica Pazzaglia, Director of (opens in a new window)UCD Smurfit School and Associate Dean of UCD College of Business.

“We sincerely thank our sponsors, Bank of Ireland, for partnering with us to celebrate the best of Irish journalism."

The 2024 categories and winners are:

• Business News Story of the Year – Charlie Weston, Irish Independent
  • ‘Thousands whose mortgages were sold to vultures cannot call on ombudsman for help’
• Audio Story of the Year – Conall Ó Móráin, The Media Group
  • ‘Never give up – Interview with Ashley McDonnell, Global Marketing Director of PUIG’ 
• Business Feature of the Year – Jon Ihle, The Sunday Times, Ireland
  • ‘A very Canadian kind of coup’
• Business Analyst of the Year - Eoin Burke-Kennedy, The Irish Times
  • ‘From high-minded ambition to mere corporate tokenism: ESG’s rise and fall’
  • ‘The rise and fall of Blackberry serves as a lesson for Ireland’
• Business Interview of the Year – Thomas Hubert, The Currency
  • Entrepreneur Tom Cotter: “We’re back to bootstrapping, but we’re doing better than ever” 
• Women in Business Journalism Award – Catherine Sanz, Business Post
  • ‘Johnny Ronan in talks to sell Bewley’s café building as part of €300m sale of prized assets’
  • ‘Inside the toxic culture pushing Irish lawyers to breaking point’
• Upcoming Journalist of the Year – Emer Walsh, Irish Examiner
  • ‘IDA chief: Investors see stability and certainty in Ireland’
  • ‘Gaza puts Ireland's public investments in the occupied territories under scrutiny’
  • ‘Gold shows its mettle: In a world of cryptocurrencies and AI stocks, investors still drawn to the oldest commodity’

Each winner of each category is awarded a €1,000 prize.

In addition to these seven categories, an Outstanding Achievement Award was presented to Brian Carey of The Sunday Times, Ireland for his contribution to journalism.

A six-time Smurfit ‘Business Journalist of the Year’ awardee, the experienced commentator and reporter is a two-time National Media Awards winner in the business category. 

A regulator contributor to news and current affairs programmes on television and radio, Brian is the co-author, with Tom Lyons, of The FitzPatrick Tapes, an acclaimed and best-selling account of the rise and fall of Anglo-Irish Bank.

Sponsored by the Bank of Ireland, and run in conjunction with the Business Journalists Association of Ireland, the UCD Smurfit School Business Journalist Awards are adjudicated by an independent panel of judges composed of business, media and academic leaders.

“The importance of journalism, including fact-checking and critical thinking, has never been clearer,” said Damien Garvey, Head of Group External Communications and Public Affairs, Bank of Ireland.

“An independent and impartial media is of immense value to our economy and society, and these awards recognise business journalists who uphold the highest standards. We are proud to collaborate with UCD Smurfit School once more and sponsor these prestigious awards and we congratulate all the nominees and winners.”

By:  David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations (with materials from Beth Gormley, UCD College of Business)

To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie