All the winners have been announced for the IMRO Radio Awards at an ceremony hosted by comedian and broadcaster Dermot Whelan.
Over 2,000 people in the radio industry across the whole island of Ireland logged on to watch the ceremony of which an Award is a prized accolade to take home.
At the start of the evening the Hall of Fame inductees for this year – Declan Meehan, George Hamilton, Patricia Messinger and Stephen Clements RIP were recognised.
The special award for Outstanding Achievement was presented to Learning Waves, the training provider for the independent commercial radio sector in Ireland.
The big three awards for the evening were won by:
- Local Station of the Year – WLR FM – Third year in a row
- Music Station of the Year – Spin 1038
- Full Service Station of the Year – BBC Radio Ulster
Chair of the IMRO Radio Awards committee, Chris Doyle, who spoke at the Awards said: “2021 is the biggest year on record for entries, so thank you very much to everyone who entered, it is great to see such enthusiasm and passion for the content being produced across the island.
Radio continues to show its power, flexibility and importance to the Irish people this year and while we continue to keep listeners informed and educated, it is brilliant coming out of the pandemic to hear how we entertain and lift listeners lives”
Eleanor McEvoy, Chair of sponsors IMRO Ireland said “On behalf of IMRO, I would like to give my heartfelt congratulations to the winners of this year’s IMRO Radio Awards. We saw over the course of the pandemic how much we relied on radio to bring us immediately up to speed with what was happening in a world that to many felt frightening and isolating. As we were told to separate from family and friends, radio served to connect us. The winners of these awards have been chosen because of their excellence in broadcasting, and I would like to say a profound thanks to them for their service to radio in Ireland.”
BAI Deputy Chief Executive, Celene Craig, commented “The BAI is delighted to support the IMRO Radio Awards again this year. The annual Awards illustrate the range of talent working in the radio sector, and I would like to congratulate all the nominees and winners tonight. This event also serves to highlight and acknowledge the dedication of those working in radio to deliver, on a daily basis, diverse and high quality programming for audiences, especially in such a difficult year. Our thanks and congratulations to all involved in the delivery of the awards tonight.”
| Category code: | Category name: | Gold: Entrant | Gold: Station | Silver: Entrant | Silver: Station | Bronze: Entrant | Bronze: Station |
| A1 | General Music Programme | 98FM’s The Fix with Ciarán O’Connor | 98FM | iRadio in the Afternoon with Dave and Fionnuala | iRadio | The Zoo Crew with Jaz and Laura | SPIN1038 |
| A2 | Specialist Music Programme | Simply Folk | RTÉ Radio 1 | The Lyric Concert with Paul Herriott – Remembering John Lennon | RTÉ Lyric FM | Blas Ceoil | BBC Radio Ulster |
| A3 | Breakfast Programme | KC and Ross in the Morning | Cork’s 96FM | Fully Charged with Graham and Nathan | SPIN1038 | The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show | Today FM |
| A4 | Music Special / Music Event | Mise Freisin’ | RTÉ Radio 1 | RTÉ Choice Music Prize withTracy Clifford | RTÉ 2FM | Dustpod for Ireland’s Classic Hits | Ireland’s Classic Hits |
| A5 | Irish Music Programme or Initiative | ATL Introducing | BBC Radio Ulster | SPIN ALT with Ray Wingnut | SPIN South West | 2FM Rising with Tracy Clifford | RTÉ 2FM |
| B1 | News Story / News Event | Trouble at the Interface | BBC Radio Ulster | Double Blow for Cork Traders | Cork’s 96FM | Section 252 – An Unspeakable Pain | Newstalk |
| B2 | News Programme – Full Service | Morning Ireland – Cyber attack | RTÉ Radio 1 | The Resignation of Arlene Foster – Evening Extra | BBC Radio Ulster | This Week | RTÉ Radio 1 |
| B3 | News Programme – Local/Regional | WLR News at 1 | WLR FM | Extended News Bulletin | Cork’s 96FM | The Breakfast Show | BBC Radio Foyle |
| B4 | Current Affairs Programme – Full Service | The Pat Kenny Show | Newstalk | On the Record | Newstalk | Newstalk Breakfast | Newstalk |
| B5 | Current Affairs Programme – Local / Regional | Tipp Today | Tipp FM | Deise Today | WLR FM | Let’s Talk – ‘In the Line of Duty’ | Shannonside FM |
| B6 | Sports Story | The Gordon Elliott Scandal | Newstalk | Jack Charlton – Player, Manager and Grandad | RTÉ Radio 1 | Carrick to the Champs-Élysées | WLR FM |
| B7 | Sports Programme – Full Service | Joey Dunlop – King of the Road | RTÉ Radio 1 | Rachael’s Day | RTÉ Radio 1 | Off The Ball | Newstalk |
| B8 | Sports Programme – Local / Regional | The Passing of Jerry Kiernan | Radio Kerry | Dublin’s Talking Sport | Sunshine 106.8 | The Covid Cup 2020 Championship | Shannonside Northern Sound |
| C1 | Documentary | Documentary on One: A Very Irish Coup | RTÉ Radio 1 | Documentary on One: The Grief of a Nation | RTÉ Radio 1 | Assume Nothing: Did the Right Man Hang? | BBC Radio Ulster |
| C2 | Music, Arts and Culture Documentary | The Music Biz | RTÉ 2FM | By the Lakes of Ponchartrain | RTÉ Radio 1 | COW | Red Hare Media for RTÉ Radio 1 Extra |
| C3 | Short Feature | Big Breakfast Little Stories | WLR FM | The Midlands 103 Vault | Midlands 103 | CountryWide – Farm Diary from Hannah Quinn Mulligan | RTÉ Radio 1 |
| C4 | Magazine Programme | The Ray D’Arcy Show | RTÉ Radio 1 | Moncrieff | Newstalk | iRadio’s The Hub | iRadio |
| C5 | Drama | Belong by Daithí McMahon and Fred O’Connor | Newstalk | Drama On One: Quicksand by Elizabeth Moynihan | RTÉ Radio 1 | The Emperor’s New Duds | RTÉjr Radio |
| C6 | Specialist Speech Programme | The Long and the Short of it | BBC Radio Ulster | The History Fix | KCLR | SPIN Ar Scoil | SPIN South West |
| C7 | Craoltóireacht le Gaeilge | Pop Raidió | SPIN1038 | Barrscéalta RTÉ Raidió Na Gaeltachta | RTÉ Raidió Na Gaeltachta | Splanc | Newstalk |
| C8 | Interactive Speech Programme | Liveline – Breaking the Menopause Taboo | RTÉ Radio 1 | Stephen Nolan Show | BBC Radio Ulster | My Son Jason – Ireland’s Mental Health | Cork’s RedFM |
| D1 | Community / Social Action | Moyross – The Forgotten Part of Limerick | Newstalk | Stand Up Awareness Week | RTÉ 2FM | Brian Maher’s 24-Hour Runathon | 98FM |
| D2 | On-Air Competition / Promotion | Gotta Get It Wrong with Graham and Nathan | SPIN1038 | Waffle – The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show | Today FM | SPIN’s €5k Phone Call | SPIN1038 |
| D3 | Station Imaging | 98FM | 98FM | iRadio | iRadio | FM104 | FM104 |
| D4 | Entertainment Inserts | Gift Grub – The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show | Today FM | Dermot and Dave | Today FM | Fully Charged – Challenge Graham | SPIN1038 |
| D5 | Digital and Social Innovation | Shine Festival 2021 | Media Central | iRadio’s TikTok Mic Drop | iRadio | #StopTheShame Campaign | Newstalk |
| D6 | Podcast of the Year | GunPlot | RTÉ | Ecolution | RTÉ | Show me the Science | Newstalk |
| E1 | Music & Entertainment Presenter of the Year | Dermot Whelan | Today FM | Jim-Jim Nugent | FM104 | Ray Foley | Cork’s Red FM |
| E2 | Radio DJ of the Year | Lorraine Murphy | Cork’s 96FM | Brian McEvoy | iRadio | Tracy Clifford | RTÉ 2FM |
| E3 | Specialist Music Broadcaster of the Year | Ralph McLean | BBC Radio Ulster | Claire Beck | Today FM | Stuart Banford | Downtown Country |
| E4 | News Broadcaster of the Year | Justin McCarthy | RTÉ Radio 1 | Fionnuala Corbett | iRadio | Niall Colbert | Today FM |
| E5 | News Reporter of the Year | John Cooke Drivetime | RTÉ Radio 1 | Brian O’Connell | RTÉ Radio 1 | Sasha Wylie | Downtown Radio/Cool FM |
| E6 | Sports Broadcaster of the Year – Full Service | Joe Molloy | Newstalk | Michael McNamee | BBC Radio Ulster | Eoin Sheahan | Newstalk |
| E7 | Sports Broadcaster of the Year – Local / Regional | Eric White | BBC Radio Foyle | Sean Mc Caffrey | Shannonside Northern Sound | Dave Hooper | Shannonside Northern Sound |
| E8 | Speech Broadcaster of the Year – Full Service | Ciara Kelly | Newstalk | Pat Kenny | Newstalk | Matt Cooper | Today FM |
| E9 | Speech Broadcaster of the Year – Local / Regional | Damien Tiernan | WLR FM | Mark Patterson | BBC Radio Foyle | Sheila Naughton | Shannonside Northern Sound |
| E10 | Gay Byrne – Newcomer of the Year | Tara McCormack | Midlands 103 | Sarah Madden | Newstalk | Jordan Humphries | Q Radio |
| F1 | Radio Moment of the Year | Saved by an Angel | LMFM | Lynsey Bennett on The Hard Shoulder | Newstalk | Drivetime – Sarah McInerney and Eoghan Harris interview | RTÉ Radio 1 |
| F2 | Local Station of the Year | WLR FM | WLR FM | Radio Kerry | Radio Kerry | Clare FM | Clare FM |
| F3 | Music Station of the Year | SPIN1038 | SPIN1038 | iRadio | iRadio | 98FM | 98FM |
| F4 | National Station of the year | BBC Radio Ulster | BBC Radio Ulster | Today FM | Today FM | Newstalk | Newstalk |
This story first appeared on Radio Today