The 50 winners of the O2 Ability Awards 2007 were announced yesterday. The awards encourage Irish employers to recognise the contribution people with diverse needs make to business.

Since the awards were established in 2005, more than 100 organisations have been recognised for embracing diversity in terms of employing people with disabilities or targeting them as customers.

The winners, representing a huge cross-section of business sectors, will attend a special gala evening in Dublin Castle on June 13th, where the two overall winners (one from the private sector and one from the non-private sector) will be announced. Also announced will be six category winners and the winner of a new award for best small company.

The awards ceremony will be televised on Thursday, June 14th, at 10.45pm on RTÉ One.

Caroline Casey, founder of the Aisling Foundation and of the O2 Ability Awards programme, said: "In just three years, over 100 organisations - aggregately employing over 150,000 people in Ireland - have become world leaders in proving the business case for employing people with disabilities or targeting them as customers."

The O2 Ability Awards were created and designed by the Aisling Foundation in strategic partnership with Access Ability and O2 Ireland. The awards receive sponsorship from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and FÁS, The Irish Times, NewsTalk 106-108FM and RTÉ.