Pól Ó Muirí, the Irish language editor of The Irish Times, was among those honoured at the Irish-language media awards in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, last night.
The Belfast-born journalist, who is also a published poet and writer, was presented with Gradam Cholúnaí na Bliana (the Columnist of the Year Award) at this year's Oireachtas na Bealtaine festival, an annual event held over four days in May to provide a platform and a forum to promote and discuss Irish.
Ó Muirí is "never afraid to question, which is a basic journalistic necessity in any language", said Liam Ó Maoladha, director of Oireachtas na Bealtaine, speaking in Irish.
"Lena thuairisceoireacht agus a scríbhneoireacht chumasach, chróga, mhacánta fhéin, cuireann sé iriseoireacht na Gaeilge i lár an aonaigh ar bhealach a fhéadfaimis ar fad a bheith bródúil as," he said, commenting on how Ó Muirí's "brave, powerful and honest writing places the journalism of Irish at the forefront, at the core of life in a way that allows all of us to be proud".
There were nine awards in total, including the Journalist of the Year Award, which was presented to Tomás Ó Mainnín of TG4; Áine Ní Chuirreáin, of RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, won the Radio Person of the Year Award; Mike Shaughnessy, of the newspaper Foinse, won the Photographer of the Year Award; and the Hall of Fame Award was presented to the actor Diarmuid Dáibhí Mac an Adhastair, who plays the character Séamus Mhicil Tom in the Irish-language soap, Ros na Rún.
The Radio Programme of the Year award went to the Raidió na Gaeltachta news team for the documentary Lá an Comháireamh; Aodh Óg Ó Duibheannaigh won the Actor of the Year Award; TV Programme of the Year went to Bob Quinn's Cinegael Paradiso; and Brian Tyers of TG4 was named as TV Person of the Year.
Séan Ó Sé, president of the Oireachtas, stressed the festival's role in providing a national platform for the traditional arts and also in promoting inclusive discourse in relation to language and culture in the context of our contemporary society and also for future generations.