TECHNOLOGY FIRM Intune Networks scooped the top award at The Irish Times/InterTradeIreland Innovation Awards last night.

Intune, which has its headquarters in Dublin, won the overall Innovation of the Year award at a ceremony in the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Kilmainham, Dublin.

The firm, which was established in 1999 by Tom Farrell and John Dunne and now employs 120 people, will receive a communications and advertising package worth €200,000 from The Irish Times .

“We sometimes get caught up in the finer points of policies and strategies at a national level without appreciating the people who are putting all the fine words into practice,” Liam Kavanagh, Irish Times managing director said. “That’s what this event tonight – and indeed our monthly Innovation magazine – is all about.”

Liam Nellis, InterTradeIreland chief executive and chairman of the final judging panel, described Intune Networks as an excellent example of a company that was at the pinnacle of innovation.

Intune chief technology officer John Dunne said it was a “fantastic honour” and a “a great recognition for our team of engineers in particular”.

Intune has developed breakthrough technology known as optical packet switch and transport which is designed to alleviate bottlenecks across networks. To date, the company has received more than €49 million in funding from investors.

Kingspan Renewables won the Green-Tech category award, while Celtic Catalysts came out on top in the Application of RD section.

Other category winners included Vennetics, Fitzgerald Nurseries, AMNCH (Tallaght Hospital) and Ammado.

More than 120 companies entered the competition. Twenty of these were shortlisted, before the final winners were selected.