Press Release: The Federation of Irish Sport announce shortlist for Irish Sport Industry Awards 2018
26 February 2018: The Federation of Irish Sport has announced the shortlist of finalists for the 2018 Sport Industry Awards. The awards, which this year are sponsored by insurance company JLT Ireland were set up in 2015 to highlight the contribution that sport makes to Ireland’s economy both directly and indirectly. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Wednesday, 7th March in the Banquet Hall at Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin 8. The Awards recognise and reward excellence in the business of sport, whilst simultaneously highlighting the contribution of sport to Ireland.
This year there will be two media awards to highlight the important role the media plays in sport in Ireland. These two awards are in collaboration with the Association of Sports Journalists in Ireland (ASJI). In all a total of 12 awards will be distributed on the night, reflecting the diverse nature of Irish sport.
Speaking at the announcement of the short-list, Mary O’Connor, CEO, Federation of Irish Sport, said “The awards were set up to highlight the importance of the business of sport in Ireland. Today sport supports almost 40,000 jobs, represents almost €2.4 billion in household expenditure and has been estimated to contribute almost €1.9 billion in tourism revenue. And that is beyond all of the other contributions sport makes in areas such as health, inclusivity, diversity and reputation both at home and abroad.”
The winners will be determined by a judging panel drawn from both the business and sporting community. The panel is Cliona O’Leary, RTE Sport, Athlete Louise Galvin, Rory Sheridan, Diageo Ireland, Liam Harbison, Sport Ireland Institute, Larry Fenelon, Leman Solicitors, Cathal Dervan ASJI, Rob Hartnett, Sport for Business, Amanda Harton, JLT, Deirdre McDermott, OSK Accountants and Business Consultants, Mark Doyle, AIB and John Aherne, GolfGraffix, two of last year’s winners.
The full list of those shortlisted is as follows
Category 1: DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT COMMUNITY OF THE YEAR
AIB/GAA – Club and County
IRFU/Vodafone – Team of Us
Basketball Ireland – Overall Digital Strategy
Triathlon Ireland – Overall Digital Strategy
GAA – GAANOW
Motorsport Ireland– Overall Digital Strategy
Shamrock Rovers – #FootballLovesUs
Category 2. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AWARD
Louth LSP – Inclusibility Project 2017
Cricket Ireland – Get Into Cricket
Boxing Ireland – Cashen Vale Boxing Club
CARA – Fit4All
FAI – Inclusive NGB
Gymnastics Ireland – GymABLE
GAA – Healthy Club
Category 3. CAMPAIGN OR PROGRAM OF THE YEAR AWARD
Vodafone/ IRFU – Team of Us
AIB/GAA – Jeff and Kammy Journey to Croker
IRFU – Women’s Rugby World Cup
AIG – Dublin GAA
Lidl – Ladies Football
Largo Foods – Basketball Ireland
Category 4. GOVERNING BODY OF THE YEAR AWARD
Ladies Gaelic Football Association
Cricket Ireland
Gymnastics Ireland
Triathlon Ireland
Tennis Ireland
Swim Ireland
Category 5. LOCAL SPORTS PARTNERSHIP OF THE YEAR AWARD
Limerick Local Sports Partnership – Sports Inclusion Club
Waterford Local Sport Partnership – WSP Balance Bike Programme
Laois Local Sport Partnership – Transformation Programme for women over 50
Clare Local Sport Partnership – Active Primary Schools programme
Cork Local Sports Partnership – Cork Sports Ability
Category 6. SPORTS EVENT OF THE YEAR AWARD
LGFA – TG4 All Ireland Ladies Gaelic Football Finals 2017
IRFU – Women’s Rugby World Cup
IRFU – Six Nations Match Ireland vs England
Badminton Ireland – FZ Forza Irish Open 2017
Basketball Ireland – FIBA U18 Women’s Europeans
Category 7. BEST COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIP AWARD
Lidl – Ladies Gaelic Football
Largo Foods – Hula Hoops Basketball Cup
AIG – Dublin GAA
Electric Ireland – Minor GAA
Fighter.ie – Broadcasting of Mixed Martial Arts
Category 8. JIMMY MAGEE AWARD FOR SPORT JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Vincent Hogan – Irish Independent
Roy Curtis – Sunday World
Kieran Cunningham – Irish Daily Star
Malachy Clerkin – The Irish Times
Sinead Kissane – TV3
Niall Kelly – The42.ie
Keith Duggan – The Irish Times
Category 9. SPORT BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD
Clubify – Community engagement app
SportsTechIreland – Developing Sport Technology Companies
SportsJoe.ie – Broadcasting Sport
Fota Island Adventure – Sport Experience and training
KitmanLabs – Athlete optimization system
Category 10. SPORTS MEDIA OUTLET OF THE YEAR AWARD
The Irish Times – Women in Sport
The 42.ie – Digital journalism
The Irish Examiner – Overall regional and national sport coverage
The Irish Independent- Tee to Green
Off the Ball.com – Digital Sports Show
Category 11. SPORTING INNOVATION OF THE YEAR AWARD
Motorsport.ie – Broadcasting own content
Irish Sailing – Water Sport Inclusion Games
Dublin Simon Community – A Gym for the Homeless
Complyfile – Software Platform for Voluntary Organisations
Rowing Ireland – Get Going – Get Rowing
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For further information, visit www.irishsportindustryawards.ie and www.irishsport.ie.
For media enquiries contact:
Shane Nolan/Kate FitzGerald; Wilson Hartnell PR
shane.nolan@ogilvy.com / kate.fitzgerald@ogilvy.com
086 0835402 / 086 3873083