The North West Correspondent of The Irish Times, Theresa Judge, has won the Connacht-based journalist NCF/John Healy award for journalism. The overall national award was won by Diarmuid Peavoy, of RTE's Nationwide programme, for a series focusing on the social and economic life of different areas of Connacht.
A special merit award went to Alasdair Jackson of RTE for a Nationwide programme which dealt with single men in rural Leitrim.
Theresa Judge was commended for the consistent quality of her writing on matters of concern to the people of the province.
This is the second year of the awards, which were presented by John Healy's widow, Mrs Evelyn Healy, and sponsored by North Connacht Farmers (NCF). Both prizewinners received a John Behan sculpture based on the Ceide Fields in Mayo, along with a cheque for £1,500 for the national award and £1,000 for the Connacht-based award.
Mr Michael Farrell, chief executive of NCF, said the media played a vital role in maintaining a focus on the needs and potential of Connacht. The John Healy award was meant to foster this.
Speaking for the judges, Dr Seamus Caulfield, professor of archaeology at UCD and main archaeologist on the Ceide Fields project, said that John Healy had challenged the parochialism of the national media, which had focused on the east coast.
He pointed out that NCF had granted £50,000 to set up the Ceide Fields and was continuing its contribution to the west of Ireland with its sponsorship of the John Healy journalism award.