Pure Mule, the gritty RTÉ drama depicting life in a Midlands town, was the major winner at Saturday night's Irish Film and Television Awards at the RDS.
The series won in five of its seven nominated categories - Declan Recks won best director, Dawn Bradfield won best actress and Tom Murphy took the award for best actor.
Murphy praised RTÉ afterwards for being "brave" enough to do a series that contained "deep dangerous emotional stuff".
With over 30 awards divided between two main umbrella categories - People's Choice Awards and Jury Awards - competition was intense.
The biggest cheer of the night was for the dapper David Kelly, who was presented with the lifetime achievement award for a career of memorable performances ranging from Rashers Tierney in Strumpet City to Grandpa Joe in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Kelly was presented with the award by Colm Meaney, who starred alongside him in Into The West.
He said he was moved by the award and by the recorded tributes from actors Clive Owen, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell. "This makes the 50-odd years worth it," he said.
The red carpet welcomed a host of well-known faces, including Sinead Cusack, Jeremy Irons, Andrea Corr, Kerry Katona, Samantha Mumba, Caprice, Caroline Morahan, Pamela Flood, and Mischa Barton of The OC.
Actor James Nesbitt compered once again but seemed more intent on playing to the gallery in the RDS than seriously addressing the Saturday night television viewers who watched the event on RTÉ.
Perhaps the most intensely fought battle in the months running up to the awards was TV personality of the year. Grainne Seoige of Sky News lost out for the third year in a row. Voted for by the public, this year's award went to TV3's Mark Cagney, who presents the station's early morning programme.
As expected, RTÉ's Prime Time Investigates documentary on the Leas Cross nursing home in north Dublin won best current affairs.
RTÉ won again with an award in the best lifestyle programme for a show fronted by financial consultant Eddie Hobbs. However, it was Show me the Money, rather than the more controversial Rip off Republic that got Hobbs the IFTA.
The best film award went to Perry Ogden's Pavee Lackeen, about a 10-year-old Traveller girl - which also won a newcomer award in London recently.
Best Irish film award went to the heart-warming Inside I'm Dancing, a hilarious and irreverent take on young lives lived in wheelchairs. Terry George won best director for Hotel Rwanda.
And the winners are . . .
People's Choice Awards
TV personality of the year: Mark Cagney - TV3; Best Irish film: Inside I'm Dancing; Best international actor: Mickey Rourke (Sin City); Best international film: Charlie And The Chocolate Factory; Best international actress: Gillian Anderson (The Mighty Celt)
Jury Award Winners: Film
Best film: Pavee Lackeen; Best director: Terry George - Hotel Rwanda; Best cinematography: Seamus McGarvey - Sahara; Best music: Gregory Magee - Winter's End; Best script: Terry George & Keir Pearson - Hotel Rwanda; Best production design: Eleanor Wood & Laura Bowe - Short Order; Best costume design: Hazel Webb-Crozier - Mickybo & Me
Awards in acting
Best actor in a feature film: Liam Neeson (Kinsey); Best actress in a feature film: Renee Weldon (Trouble With Sex); Best supporting actor film: Seán McGinley (On A Clear Day); Best supporting actress film: Charlotte Bradley (The Boys & Girl From County Clare)
Best actor in TV: Tom Murphy (Pure Mule); Best actress in TV: Dawn Bradfield (Pure Mule); Best Supporting actor in TV: Gary Lydon, Garrett Lombard (Pure Mule); Best Supporting Actress in TV: Eileen Walsh (Pure Mule, left); Best short fiction: Six Shooter; Best Animation: Cúilín Dualach; Breakthrough talent: Perry Ogden (Pavee Lackeen)
Awards across film and TV
Best editing in drama: Emer Reynolds - Shameless; Best sound in drama: Pure Mule
Awards in TV
Best drama: Love Is The Drug; Best current affairs programme: Prime Time Investigates: Home Truths - RTÉ
Best news programme: BBC Newsline - BBC; Best children's/youth programme: Pic Me; Best entertainment: Stew; Best lifestyle programme: Show Me The Money (accepted by presenter Eddie Hobbs, left); Best sports feature: Marooned; Best documentary in the English language: John McGahern: A Private World; Best documentary in Irish: Concerto Chaitlín Maude; Best director drama: Pure Mule - Declan Recks
Special Award
Lifetime achievement award recipient - David Kelly