Nominations were announced for the 2019 IMRO Awards on Tuesday with several Clare connections among those shortlisted.
Formerly known as the PPIs, the IMROs are the awards Irish radio stations strive to win every year. 185 finalists were unveiled on Tuesday afternoon with Clare FM securing four nominations in different categories and plenty of Banner connections across the board.
RTÉ Radio One’s Céili House which is presented by Ennis native Kieran Hanrahan is one of the five nominees in the specialist music programme category. Shannon rapper God Knows Jonas is nominated for specialist music broadcaster of the year, his weekly show is aired by Spin South West.
Brian O’Connell of Ennis, a reporter on RTÉ Radio One’s Today with Sean O’Rourke is included in the category for reporter of the year. Barefield’s Siofra Mulqueen was also one of the happy faces upon seeing the nominees, she is part of the production team of The Pat Kenny Show which was recognised in the current affairs programme shortlist. Ex Deputy Head of News with Clare FM, Trudy Waters was part of the Tipp FM production team responsible for a Trip to Tipp music special which is a contender for an IMRO award.
Well-wishes were pouring into Francis St in Ennis as Clare FM were pleased with their showing. Already a gold medal winner at the New York Radio Festival, ‘The Rescue’ produced by Gavin Grace and Padraic Flaherty which tells the story of Jim Warny’s involvement in the recovery of twelve boys and their football coach from the Tham Luang cave in July of last year is in the mix for IMRO documentary of the year.
Morning Focus, the station’s flagship show which is presented by Grace and produced by Fiona McGarry is in the running for the local current affairs show gong.
‘Thank you Laura’, a news story surrounding the death of Ennis woman and HPV vaccine campaigner Laura Brennan is shortlisted for news story of the year. The station is also listed among the nominees for local station of the year.
General Manager of Clare FM, Susan Murphy told The Clare Echo, “This is wonderful news for the station and our team, the standards of the awards reaches new highs each year, so when you receive a nomination, you already feel you have achieved so much. We have some amazing entries once again and it shows the serious quality of programming that our team continue to produce year on year. It’s always an honour to fly the flag for your County at any award ceremony, and whatever the outcome, we will be satisfied to know that once again Clare FM is competing at the highest National level”.
Chair of the IMRO Radio Awards committee Tom McGuire said “The IMRO Radio Awards is an important media milestone as it recognises the excellence of Irish radio; celebrates the contribution of broadcasters to the national conversation and for one night only brings together the nation’s stations.”
“After much deliberation and debate the judges have selected an incredible shortlist whose broadcasting output fully embodies the broad spectrum of radio content in Ireland today. Irish audience’s appetite for quality radio output continues to grow, fuelling outstanding creativity, story-telling and audience engagement from broadcasters throughout the country. And this is abundantly evident from the quality of submissions received this year,” Eleanor McEvoy, IMRO Chairperson stated.
