Dublin, Monday, 11 December 2023: Ireland’s leading business journalists were recognised at the 16th UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School Business Journalist Awards held in Dublin today. The awards honour excellence in Irish business journalism across the media spectrum and are sponsored by the Bank of Ireland. The awards are run in conjunction with the Business Journalists Association of Ireland.

The winners of the seven categories for 2023 are:

• Business News Story of the Year – Fionnan Sheahan & Melanie Finn, The Irish Independentfor their submission, Crisis at RTE - investigation into financial payments & corporate governance.
• Audio Story of the Year – Mark Tighe, Ellen Coyne, Garrett Mulhall, Tabitha Monahan and John Smith, The Sunday Independent for their submission, Money for Jam - what John Delaney did next.
• Business Feature of the Year – Brian Carey, The Sunday Times Ireland for his submission, The Clonbio Story on Mark Turley.
• Business Analyst of the Year - Niall Sargent, Noteworthy (currently with The Currency), for his submissions; Heads must roll: Industry and experts argue energy crisis is of ‘our own making and Drilling for Data: Growing energy needs fuelling rise in data centre emissions.
• Business Interview of the Year – Linda Daly, The Sunday Times Ireland for her interview with Ballymore’s Sean Mulryan, Ballymore is out of the traps with its sights trained on home.
• Women in Business Journalism Award – Amy Molloy, Mediahuis Ireland, for  'Fraudster sister lodged money in DJ Carey account' and 'Convicted fraudster Catriona Carey - who is accused of being involved in a mortgage scam - loses family home after defaulting on payments for 10 years'.
• Upcoming Journalist of the Year – Donal McNamee, The Business Post for his submissions 'Intel offers workers thousands of euro to take extended leave' and 'Building watchdog claims country faces ‘national emergency’ over regulation' and 'Big Read: Inside Twitter’s crumbling and disconnected Irish base'

In addition to the seven categories listed above, an Outstanding Achievement Award was presented to Colm Keena of the Irish Times for his contribution to journalism. Colm played a significant role in the downfall of a Taoiseach, was responsible for the creation of a separate investigation module in a tribunal of inquiry, and most importantly, helped to enshrine in Irish law the right of journalists to protect their sources. He is also a member of the ICIJ, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The collaboration of more than 140 media outlets around the world has uncovered vast amounts of corporate and political wrongdoing through the publication of the Panama Papers, the Paradise Papers, and most recently, Cyprus Confidential. Colm is has also written a number of books including a biography of Gerry Adams; “Haughey's Millions – On the Trail of Charlie's Money”; and “Bertie Ahern: The Man Who Blew the Boom.”

Each winner of each category is awarded a €1,000 prize.     
             
Professor Federica Pazzaglia, Director of UCD Smurfit School and Associate Dean of UCD College of Business said:

“We are proud to recognise the best of Irish business journalism in the 16th annual Business Journalist Awards. Irish business journalists' work enriches the public’s understanding of critical issues of the day and how they impact business and society. We would also like to extend our appreciation to our sponsors, Bank of Ireland."

Gavin Kelly, CEO, Commercial and Commercial Banking, Bank of Ireland said:

“We are delighted to partner with UCD Smurfit School in sponsoring the awards again. The role of journalists has never been so crucial and the importance of good journalism, including robust fact-checking and critical thinking, has never been clearer. That’s the value that we, as a society, get from an independent and objective media. These awards celebrate Irish business journalists who deliver reporting of the highest standard and I extend my congratulations to today’s winners and nominees.”

The awards are adjudicated by an independent panel of judges composed of business, media and academic leaders. 

• Breege O’Donoghue (Chairperson), Chair and NED (Public and Private Sectors);
• Leah Boersig, Head of Fraud Operations, Europe at Square, UCD Smurfit School Executive MBA Alumna 2023;
• Associate Professor Julie Byrne, Associate Professor of Banking and Finance, Incoming Programme Director of MSc in Finance at UCD College of Business;
• Professor John Cotter, Professor of Banking and Finance, Chair in Quantitative Finance at UCD College of Business;
• Leon Diop, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Black & Irish, Board member at Childhood Development Initiative (CDI) and South Dublin County Partnership (SDCP);
• Professor Patrick Gibbons, Jefferson Smurfit Professor of Strategic Management at UCD College of Business;
• Tony Golden, Board Advisor, Albany Beck and Former Chairman Citibank Ireland;
• Audrey Healy, Head of Marketing and Communications, Director of Alumni Relations at UCD College of Business;
• Conor Keane, Senior Consultant at Heneghan, Former Business Editor at Irish Examiner, Journalist and Documentary Maker;
• Jane O’Sullivan, Digital Content Creator, Editor and Former Business Journalist;
• Noirin O’Sullivan, Former Irish Garda Commissioner, Director of Strategic Partnerships for Europe at the International Association of Chiefs of Police;
• Emmet Oliver, Former Business Editor, UCD Quinn School Lecturer and Broadcaster;
• Anton Savage, Radio and Television Presenter and Founding Director of the Communications Clinic.