A final-year student and five Mary Immaculate College (MIC) graduates have been celebrated for their work in the Irish radio industry at the IMRO Radio Awards in Kilkenny recently. A further four graduates were among those shortlisted for honours at the ceremony which took place in Lyrath on Friday 7 October.
Two MIC graduates took home Gold awards for their work, with both on-air and off-air roles celebrated. Ray Cuddihy, who graduated from MIC’s Professional Master of Education (Primary Teaching) programme in 2019, took the Gold award under the Specialist Music Programme category for his RTE Radio 1 music series Mise FRESHIN’. Furthermore, Ray was among those shortlisted in the ‘Specialist Music Broadcaster of the Year’ and ‘Music Special/Event category’ for Mise FRESHIN’ LIVE. Ray became a household name as he presented RTE’s Home School Hub during the COVID-19 lockdowns to deliver the primary school curriculum content through national television, with support from Professor Emer Ring, Dean of Education at MIC and members of the College’s Faculty of Education.
Also winning Gold was Nessa McGann, who won an award on behalf of the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland (IBI). Nessa was Project Coordinator of October 2021’s Irish Music Month, an initiative between the 25 IBI stations and Hot Press, which saw the broadcasters undertake the biggest ever programming event by local stations since the foundation of independent radio in Ireland in 1989. The campaign included a commitment to playing more Irish music, supporting the Irish live music industry, creating additional exposure of Irish artists and boosting sales of Irish bands and artists through a major free on-air advertising campaign. The initiative was awarded the Gold IMRO award for Irish Music Programme or Initiative. In addition to her time as a student of the MA in Media Studies at MIC, Nessa managed the on-campus student radio station Wired FM from September 2000 until March 2007 before taking up a position as the Programme Director and Station Manager of Spin South West.
Also winning Gold was Newstalk’s Pat Kenny show, which took the top accolade in the Current Affairs Programme category. Fourth year Media student Eimear Collins worked as a researcher with the programme during her third-year off-campus placement and continues to work for the programme remotely while studying in her final year.
2009 MIC graduate Lorraine Murphy won the Silver award under the highly competitive Radio DJ of the Year category. Lorraine is the presenter of The Big Drive Home with Lorraine on Cork’s 96FM, having previously also worked for Tipp FM and WLR FM, as well as presenting a variety of programmes on Wired FM during her time at MIC. She graduated from the Bachelor of Arts with a degree in Media & Communications and English.
Awarded Bronze under the prestigious Gay Byrne Newcomer Award category was Emma Hill, who studied Media at undergraduate level at MIC before undertaking the MA in Media Studies. Emma is the Producer of Tipp FM’s award-winning flagship show, Tipp Today with Fran Curry, as well as the presenter of Premier Irish on Sunday evenings, which plays the best and newest home-grown talent.
South-East radio station BEAT, which covers Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Tipperary, took home the Bronze award for Station of the Year. Media & Communications and English graduate, Gabriella Cummins has served as the CEO and Programme Director of the station since 2006.
Four other graduates, who all studied Media as part of a BA degree at MIC, were also shortlisted for awards. MIC Alumna of the Year for 2018, Jacqui Hurley, was nominated for Sports Story of the Year for Hakuna Matata – Team Ireland at Tokyo 2020, for RTE Radio 1. Jacqui’s colleague at the State Broadcaster, Cian McCormack, was nominated in the News Reporter of the Year category. As well as studying at MIC, Cian later went on to lecture in journalism for the Media & Communications Department between 1999 and 2001.
Finally, Clare FM’s News at One programme was nominated in the News Programme (Local/Regional) category. The Head of News at the station is Fiona Cahill, who graduated with a BA before completing an MA in Irish Studies, while Rebecca O’Sullivan, journalist and producer at the station, graduated with a BA in Media & Communications and English, as well as working as a Studio Executive with Wired FM during her time at MIC.
Congratulating Eimear and the MIC graduates on their recognition was Head of the Department of Media & Communications Studies, Dr Rosemary Day, who said: “I was delighted to meet so many of our graduates at the IMRO Awards night in the Lyrath Hotel, Kilkenny. It made me really proud to see how well they have done in their chosen careers in radio. It was particularly gratifying to see the spread of success across all ages and genders and across so many stations, public service and commercial independent alike. It was also a pleasure to meet them and to be told by each and everyone how much they cherish their memories of Mary I and how much they attribute their success in their careers to the education and training they received in the Department of Media and Communication Studies and in Wired FM.”
You can find out more about the Media & Communications Studies Department at MIC by clicking here.
