McNamee Awards 2008

GAA Press Release

10th August 2009

McNamee Awards 2008

The winners of the 2008 McNamee Awards have been confirmed by the GAA. These Awards, the GAA National Communication and Media Awards named after the late Pádraig McNamee, former President of the G.A.A., Chairman of the GAA Commission (1969-1971) and member of R.T.E. authority. They are presented annually in recognition of outstanding contributions made by individuals in the area of media and communications.

Uachtarán CLG, Criostóir Ó Cuana said “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of this years winners and to thank them sincerely for their immense contribution for their coverage and promotion of Gaelic Games.

The awards will be presented by Uachtarán CLG, Criostóir Ó Cuana, at a function in Croke Park on August 16th.

This year’s winners are:

Best GAA History Publication – Loughinisland GAC, Down Ar Scéal féin: Stair C.L.G. Loc an Oiléan (Our Story: The History of Loughinisland G.A.C.) is a beautifully produced book which blends local history, memoir and a record of the games won and lost. Lavishly illustrated, the book straddles a century of GAA life in the Parish, bringing the past to life in a stunning array of historical and contemporary images and documents. The history of Loughinisland G.A.C. is not only that of a people at play; it is also a history of voluntary endeavour and community achievement. The compilers of this book have not only done justice to that achievement, they have built on it. It is a book that will surely find a resting place in every home in Loughinisland, but it contains much to fascinate and intrigue a much wider audience.

Best Website – Belgium GFC, Brussels, www.belgiumgaa.com The site has excellent design features with notable integration of current web trends such as a blog feature, forum and Flickr integration. In addition, as an overall service to GAA fans in the region – the site has excellent news features, modern up to date content whilst employing outstanding usability and coding standards. Overall, a first rate site.

Best Photograph – Oliver McVeigh, Sportsfile This image (see attached – Joe Canning, Galway, in action against Cormac Donnelly, Antrim. All-Ireland Senior Championship Qualifier, Round 1 2008, Casement Park, Belfast) from the match between Galway and Antrim epitomizes the photographic skill, vision, timing and concentration of the photographer in capturing a millisecond of time showing the sawdust flying and the hurl smashing in what is regarded as one of the fastest ball games in the world. It vividly reflects the courage, commitment and competition of the sport of hurling.

Best County Programme – Wexford SHC Final This was an outstanding production and presentation of their 2008 county hurling final match programme between Oulart the Ballagh and St Martin’s edited by Mary Foley, County PRO. At 104 pages long it was a credit to all involved that quantity never came before quality and from cover to cover there was an abundance of interesting and informative articles that lent to the sense of occasion. It was notable too that the intermediate final curtain raiser between Rathnure and Blackwater was not ignored and treated with the same respect and recognition as the senior final.

Best Local Radio Programme – WLR FM (Waterford Local Radio), “2008 Hurling in Review”

The WLR FM entry captured all the excitement side stories and honour associated with qualifying for an All Ireland Final and sensitively handled the disappointing Deise performance. The production, research, scripting, innovation and content behind the programme were superbly edited making WLR FM a worthy winner.

Provincial Media Award – Western People, feature on All-Ireland MFC Final 2008 The nine page feature on the All Ireland MFC Final 2008 was first class covering a wide range of issues and topics giving readers a real sense that they were being kept in touch with all the important matters in a lively, colourful and insightful way in the build up to the final.

National Media Award – Jackie Cahill

Jackie Cahill’s interview with Niall Gilligan, Clare hurler, provides an insightful look into the demands faced by the players but also reveals the enduring passion for playing for your county in the heat of the championship. Combining a career as a top class GAA player and a businessman in these recessionary times reflects the extraordinary commitment of the top hurlers and footballers and this is captured brilliantly in this article.

Irish Language Award – Raidió na Gaeltachta Spórt an Domhnaigh The Raidió na Gaeltachta Spórt an Domhnaigh programme wins this award for their expert analysis, results and reports from the day’s GAA sporting fixtures every Sunday throughout 2008 as Gaeilge. The editing and presentation of information was of a consistently high standard. Clár radio thar barr go Ghaeilgeoirí.

Best Modern Technology Innovation (for use of modern technology in relation to the promotion of GAA activity) – St Peter’s GAA Club, Down A fantastic production of a communications strategy for St. Peter’s GAC, Down. Not only was their approach multi-faceted, involving many aspects of modern technology, from web page, to email, to desktop publishing, but it was implemented to a clear strategy, with clearly defined goals and milestones. They were also not afraid to use tools like Google Analytics to measure performance. As a single broad body of work, it is an outstanding production for a small club run on a voluntary basis.

Hall of Fame Award – Ray McManus, Sportsfile As the founder of Ireland’s foremost sports photography agency, Sportsfile, Ray McManus has made an immense and invaluable contribution to media coverage of gaelic games worldwide. For almost thirty years, Ray has worked tirelessly all over the world, capturing countless individual moments of athleticism and emotion that define the unique spectacle the GAA produces. Ray also currently serves as President of the Press Photographers Association of Ireland, a measure of his standing and admiration amongst his peers.