The Connacht Tribune was once again among the winners at this year’s Local Ireland Media Awards, revealed at a gala dinner in the Bloomfield House Hotel near Mullingar last week.

Sixteen awards celebrating excellence in local news publishing were presented on an evening hosted by RTÉ’s Marty Morrissey and sponsored by the National Lottery.

And the Tribune came home with the award for Best Local Advertisement – for a campaign we ran for the Connacht Hospitality Group.

Tribune Business Development Leader Kieran Rabbitte and advertising executive Corinna Hurley were on hand to collect the award – one that Kieran was particularly delighted with.

“We work hard to create bespoke solutions for our much-valued advertisers – and this is an acknowledgement that we have the talent and the expertise to show them in the very best light,” he said.

The Connacht Tribune and Galway City Tribune were shortlisted in six categories – Joe O’Shaughnessy for Best Photograph; Dara Bradley for Best News Story; Denise McNamara for National Lottery Best Community Story; the City Tribune for Best Use of Photograph, and the Connacht Tribune for Best Use of Social Media.

The President of Local Ireland, Connacht Tribune Operations Manager Declan McGuire, described the night – and the awards – as a source of pride for the cream of local newspapers and online news publishers right across the country.

“We had a record number of entries this year, which were for our seventh awards,” he said.

“I want to thank the National Lottery for their sponsorship of an event that reflects the valuable work that our journalists do in support of their communities. Along with the nominees and winners, the whole sector should be congratulated on the quality of this year’s entries,” he said.

Executive Director of Local Ireland Bob Hughes said he was delighted that the sector had an opportunity to come together again ‘to celebrate at our first in-person event in three years’.

A special presentation was made on the night to honour the career of Johnny O’Hanlon, former editor of The Anglo-Celt in Cavan and a former Director of Local Ireland.