Matt Cooper, Gavan Reilly top list of journalists on Twitter

Number of people following Irish journalists on top 100 rises 3%

Today FM presenter Matt Cooper and Virgin Media political correspondent Gavan Reilly have topped the list of Irish journalists on Twitter, according to an index ranking the most influential on the platform.

Mr Cooper shared first place in the latest edition of the Murray Tweet Index, and topped the broadcast category for a third year in a row. Mr Reilly earned a fifth year as top political journalist.

The Irish Times' Una Mullally was top columnist and also placed seventh in the top 100 list, and Conor Pope was number one in the consumer category. Irish Times deputy features editor Roisin Ingle was the top placed Irish Times journalist in the overall list, coming in sixth.

Brexit propelled RTE's Europe editor Tony Connelly to the top of the news category, while former Sunday Business Post executive editor Tom Lyons was named as top business journalist on Twitter and Adrian Weckler retained his title as top technology journalist.

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RTE led the way with 18 journalists in the top 100 list, with the Irish Times and the Irish Independent on 13 each. Among the Irish Times journlists to make the top 100 were Simon Carswell, Marie-Claire Digby and Hugh Linehan.

The top 100 journalists have a combined total of 3.1 million followers, a 3 per cent rise on last year.

This is the fifth year of the index, which looks at several factors including popularity, quality of engagement and activity on Twitter.

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist