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TG4 receives honour at Oireachtas na Gaeilge Media Awards 2016

16.05.16

TG4 receives honour at Oireachtas na Gaeilge Media Awards 2016

The consistently high standard of TG4’s output across a wide range of output is reflected in the awards garnered by the channel at the 2016 Oireachtas na Gaeilge Media Awards, (Gradaim Ghaeilge an Oireachtais) presented in Galway over the weekend.   Uachtarán na hÉireann, Michael D Higgins, whose role as Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht was key in  the establishment of the channel, was on hand to present the Awards.

These are the premier Irish language media awards and are much coveted by industry professionals.  As TG4 prepares to mark twenty years of broadcasting this year, the channel’s contribution was acknowledged with the supreme prize, the Lifetime Achievement Award. The station’s other winners range across the full span of output – documentary, entertainment and drama.  This Award was accepted by the TG4 Ard-Stiúrthóir  (Director General), Pól Ó Gallchóir.

The full list of TG4 recipients at Oireachtas na Gaeilge 2016 Media Awards is:

TG4 – Life-Time Achievement Award

For the breadth, range, creativity and freshness of approach it has provided in its twenty years of broadcast, for its contribution to public service broadcasting and for the higher profile it is given the Irish language.

EIPIC – Best TV Series (produced by Magamedia)

An off-beat low-fi comedy musical drama  series that follows the fortunes of 5 rural teenagers who take over their local abandoned post office in 2016 to start a musical revolution. It’s a bold story about escape, empowerment and what it means to be a teenage “hero” in contemporary rural Ireland – all set against the backdrop of the 1916 centenary celebrations.

Deoch an Dorais – Best Film/TV Programme (produced by Magamedia)

Documentary about Mike Malloy. He was an Irish emigrant from Donegal who fell on hard times in New York City in the early 1930s. Twenty attempts were made on his life. Now a Donegal hard man with a similar surname but of a different generation goes in search of the legend. Anthony Molloy journeys to the Bronx in search of the most durable Irish emigrant the city was ever to see.

Síle Nic Chonaonaigh – Best Broadcaster (Dúiche series, produced by Open Eye)

For her warm and engaging style as presenter of this roving weekly magazine that showcases stories that reveal the real and often hidden Ireland, a mixture of serious and informative stories as well the light-hearted. Interesting individuals, the communities they live in and the groups or causes they represent take centre stage. The topics and localities covered include rural isolation, communities training as first responders, inventions and entrepreneurial spirit.

Snámh in Aghaidh Easa – Best Short film   (produced by Meangadh Fíbín)

A dramatic documentary that follows four Aran Islands fishing boats as they leave Ros an Mhíl port  for the Shetland Islands in search of the elusive mackerel. When the four boats left home, they could not have predicted  that only three of the vessels would return.  Dramatic events on the 20th of January 2015 changed all that when the Iúda Naofa got into difficulty north of the Isle of Lewis   and sank. Luckily, all the crew was winched to safety, as the dramatic footage illustrates.

Stiofán Ó Fearail – Young Star of the Year
The multi-talented Stiofán  first came to prominence as lead-singer of the group Seo Linn. He is also a co-presenter (with Eibhlín Ní Chonghaile) of Cleas Act a new light entertainment show for TG4 which puts the funniest, most talkative and capable school kids on screen.

www.tg4.ie – Best Website

TG4’s popular and comprehensive site incorporates a Player service offering on-line access worldwide to the channel’s live and recent output as well as a wide range of supplementary information and support.  It has recently undergone a full upgrade and make-over to enhance the user experience.

Tara Breathnach – Best Actor

Perhaps best-know for her long-running major role in TG4’s drama series, Ros na Rún her work was acknowledged in this Award for her role in the short film  Maidhm, about an autistic boy’s search for his mother.

Commenting on the channel’s Lifetime Achievement Award, TG4 Ard-Stiúrthóir Pól Ó Gallchóir says, “As TG4 finalises plans to mark our 20^th Birthday next Halloween, this special supreme media award from Oireachtas na Gaeilge is particularly heartening for our own team and for our content creators in the independent production sector throughout Ireland.   Following on directly from our recent  prizes  at IFTA, CIRCOM and the Celtic Media Festival, it is both a validation from our core audience, home and abroad, of the high quality of our programmes and an inspiration for the future.”   

The President’s speech and the Awards ceremony can be viewed here:

http://nasc.tg4.tv/1TVdg49