Irish Winners in EU Journalist Competition

national | arts and media | press release Tuesday May 08, 2007 12:36 by Mediaaward

Irish Winners announced in Europe-wide Journalist Competition

The Irish winners of a Europe-wide Journalism competition have been announced. David Lynch, formerly of Daily Ireland and now working as a freelance journalist has been declared the national winner of the ‘For Diversity. Against Discrimination’ Journalism Award and Maria Moynihan of the Irish Farmers Journal was announced as the winner in the Young Journalist Category. The Awards are now in the 4th year and previous winners have included Carl O’Brien on the Irish Times and Fiona Ness of the Sunday Business Post.

To see winning articles see http://journalistaward2006.stop-discrimination.info/win....html

The Awards are presented by the European Commission in recognition of journalism, which highlights discrimination issues and are part of the Commission’s "For Diversity. Against Discrimination." information campaign which, provides information on European anti-discrimination policies with a particular focus on workplace discrimination. Entries are currently being sought for the Journalist Award 2007 and a special award will be awarded to mark the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All. Entries can qualify for this special award by submitting an article dealing with discrimination on the basis of race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, gender, age, sexual orientation or disability and referring to the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All.

Martin Territt, Director of the European Commission Representation in Ireland said that the Awards recognised the importance of journalism in highlighting issues of discrimination.

“I would like to commend both David and Maria for the quality and perceptiveness of their articles. The articles provide a real insight and understanding of the prejudices faced by sectors of our community. Tolerance and respect are core European values and the European Commission is delighted to support the type of journalism, which gives a real voice to those who are often not heard.

Commenting on the selection of David Lynch’s article, ‘The Persistence of Prejudice’, Niall Crowley, Chief Executive of the Equality Authority and Chairperson of the Irish national jury said that the article was unique in exploring the equality dimension to a news story that enjoyed widespread coverage.

"David Lynch, in this article provided a thoughtful and insightful perspective on the relationship between the Gardaí and the Traveller community and the outcome of the Morris Tribunal.

The article demonstrated a keen awareness of equality issues and gave a voice to the Traveller community".

The Irish national jury also rewarded Maria Moynihan of the Irish Farmers Journal the Young Journalist Award.

Commenting on the article ‘Family Ties: No Longer Nuclear’, Niall Crowley said it was a timely and thought provoking exploration of family diversity in Irish society. It is timely given the need for a new policy focus on this theme and it was thought provoking in setting out the extent of diversity of family forms and in affording an opportunity for different families to tell their own stories. This was a worthy winner of the Young Journalist Award.

Accepting the Award, David Lynch said that the article focused on the difficulties posed for the Travelling community in contemporary Ireland and it was the work of other journalists in Ireland and abroad who saw it is as their principal task to write from the perspective of the underdog, which encouraged him to enter journalism.

Accepting the Award in the Young Journalist category, Maria Moynihan said, “that this Award is a great honour for both myself and The Journal. As a young journalist, it’s fantastic to get this level of recognition from the European Commission.”

Editors Note:

For Diversity. Against Discrimination Campaign
As part of its Action Programme to combat Discrimination, the European Commission is running a five-year pan-European information campaign on combating discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age, disability and sexual orientation. The campaign is now in its final year and will run until June 2008.

With the slogan "For Diversity. Against Discrimination", the campaign is focused primarily on promoting diversity in the workplace. The campaign, has been developed in close co-operation with EU governments, trade unions, employers' organisations and NGOs, was launched on 16th June 2003 by EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Anna Diamantopoulou.

Members of the Irish national jury
Niall Crowley, Chief Executive of the Equality Authority
Philip Watt, Director of the National Consultative Committee on Racism & Interculturalism
John Horgan, former lecturer in Journalism at DCU
Niall Moonan, News Editor at the Irish Daily Mirror
Kathy Donaghy, RTE journalist

David Lynch
David Lynch is a Dublin based journalist with a wide range of experience in regional, national and international press. After graduating from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth he worked full time in regional media for five years, while also doing an eclectic range of freelance work.

He is also a published historian his 'Radical Politics in Modern Ireland- A History of the Irish Socialist Republican Party' was published by Irish Academic Press in 2005. He has also worked in Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories for the Sunday Business Post and Daily Ireland.

Maria Moynihan
Maria Moynihan is a native of Tralee, Co Kerry and a journalist with The Irish Farmers Journal. After graduating from Dublin City University with a First Class Honours degree in Journalism, Maria joined The Journal in May 2005.