.png)
Independent Judging Panel
Claire Grady
Claire Grady began her career as a journalist with the Mayo News, and worked on the Connaught Telegraph and the Tallaght Echo before joining Independent News and Media where she worked for almost 30 years. She was a news reporter with both the Evening Herald and Irish Independent for over a decade and spent two years as a reporter with the Sunday Tribune before joining the the Irish Independent newsdesk under the editorship of the late Vinnie Doyle. Claire was appointed Executive Editor of the Evening Herald in 2006, a role which included commissioning columnists and being opinion editor. She was appointed editor of the Herald in 2012, and editor of the Irish Independent in 2013, a post she held for a year. She retains a keen interest in the production and presentation of news and is an occasional contributor to radio and television news review programmes.
Journalist & Chair of the Judging Panel
Tom McEnaney
He is the former business editor of both the Irish Independent and The Sunday Times (Ireland). He has worked as a journalist with The Irish Times, Business & Finance Magazine and The Sunday Tribune. He has also worked as a columnist with the Irish Daily Mail, The Irish Mail on Sunday and The Times, and as a broadcaster with Today FM and Newstalk.
Media consultant
McEnaney Media
Miriam Donohoe
Highly experienced senior communications professional with more than 35 years in journalism and PR. For the last five years has worked in the international humanitarian and development aid sector.
Communications Specialist
John P. O'Sullivan
John P. O’Sullivan began his career in journalism as the Irish Times UCC correspondent. After a lengthy hiatus during which he worked on oilrigs and as a documentation manager in the IT industry, he returned to journalism via the Sunday Times. There he wrote about art and literature for 12 years – with occasional morsels of memoir. He is currently at the Irish Arts Review – writing artist profiles and following the art market through his Art at Auction column. He is author of the Substack: Cultural Manoeuvres in the Gathering Gloom.
Author & Writer at Irish Arts Review
Michael Gilson
Michael Gilson is a former editor of, among others, The Scotsman and the Belfast Telegraph. He is an Associate Fellow of the School of Media, Arts and Humanities at the University of Sussex. His book on the history of the British suburban garden has now been published by Reaktion.
Author and Journalist
Mairead Lavery
Journalist and Editor I have over 20 years experience as a journalist and editor with the Irish Farmers Journal. Now retired.
Former Journalist & Editor
Irish Farmers Journal
Dave O'Connell
Dave O’Connell is Group Editor of the Connacht Tribune, a role he has held for the past 15 years. A graduate of journalism at the College of Commerce in Rathmines in 1983, he started as a reporter with the Connacht Tribune that year before moving to the then-Cork Examiner in 1989. He was promoted to Deputy Editor and News Editor of the Cork Evening Echo before leaving to take up a role as Assistant News Editor with the Star in 1995. He worked as News Editor and Night Editor there until he departed for the Westmeath Independent in 2001, where he was appointed editor – a role that was subsequently expanded to Group Editor with the Westmeath Examiner Group, serving as editor of the Westmeath Examiner, Westmeath Independent and Offaly Independent. He has been a regular presenter and contributor with RTÉ, and with Galway Bay FM, which is part of the Connacht Tribune Group. A native of Oughterard, Co Galway, he is married to the RTÉ journalist Teresa Mannion, and they have two sons, Cian and Tom.
Group Editor
Connacht Tribune
Moira Hannon
Moira Hannon is a staff journalist with RTÉ's top rated radio programme Morning Ireland. She previously worked as Features Editor with the Irish Daily Star and is an award-winning travel writer.
Journalist
RTÉ
Jane Last
Jane began her career working in regional media with the Offaly Independent for three years. In 2005, she worked as a reporter for the Herald before becoming an assistant news editor and picture editor in 2007. In 2012, she was appointed Deputy Editor of Independent.ie, a role she stayed in for three years. In 2015, she was promoted to Head of News & Visuals for Independent News & Media (now Mediahuis Ireland), responsible for news content across all print and digital platforms. In 2019, Jane joined Dublin City University to head up their Digital Communications, with particular focus on their website, social and video, demonstrating the every day impact of the University's stated mission to transform lives and societies
Head of Digital Communications
Dublin City University
Kieran Dineen
Kieran Dineen is Senior Communications Officer at Technological University of the Shannon (TUS). Before joining TUS, Kieran spent six years with RTÉ, working as a reporter on Morning Ireland, Prime Time and the RTÉ Investigations Unit, including periods as acting editor on Morning Ireland. Earlier in his career, he held journalism roles with the Irish Sun, Irish Daily Mail and the Evening Echo. With more than 20 years' experience across journalism, higher education and public sector communications, he holds a Master's degree from University College Cork and is currently halfway through an MBA, having achieved First Class Honours in the Postgraduate Diploma in Executive Management that forms the first year of the programme.
Senior Communications Officer
Technological University of the Shannon
Marie Kierans
Marie Kierans currently works as a Communications Executive with Irish Wheelchair Association. She began her career in journalism forty years ago, cutting her teeth locally before moving to work in national newspapers including the Sunday World and Irish Daily Mirror. She was the first female to be appointed Editor of the Drogheda Independent and was producer of the flagship current affairs show on LMFM radio for eight years.
Communications Officer
Irish Wheelchair Association
John McGee
John McGee has over 30 years’ experience as a journalist, editor and publisher, having worked for and contributed to a number of leading Irish and international newspapers and magazines down through the years. A former Magazines Ireland Editor of the Year and Publisher of the Year, he is a graduate of UCD and DCU and spent over 14 years working as a business journalist, and later editor, between 1987 and 2001. He is also a former media & marketing columnist with the Sunday Independent and is publisher of IMJ Adworld, Ireland's leading digital media platform for the marketing, advertising and media industries.
Publisher & Editor
Adworld and IMJ
Raymond Burke
Former News Editor of the Irish Press and Chief News Editor of RTÉ News; Author of Press Delete: The Decline and Fall of the Irish Press (2005) and Joyce County: Galway and James Joyce (2016/2022) and contributor to four books on Irish newspaper history; book reviewer and occasional contributor to An Irish Diary in the Irish Times; contributor to the Connacht Tribune and the Century Ireland website.
Former Chief News Editor
RTÉ News, Irish Press
Jennifer O'Brien
Jennifer O'Brien works at RTÉ Communications, is currently Acting Communications Manager TV, Radio, and Online, and is a former journalist. Previously, Jennifer worked as Ireland Arts Editor at The Times Ireland, online producer at ITV's Good Morning Britain, and Editor of Bizarre at The Sun in London. Jennifer is a two-time winner at the journalism awards, and before moving to London in 2013, worked as Showbiz Editor at The Irish Sun.
RTÉ Communications & Former Journalist
Fiachra O Cionnaith
Fiachra Ó Cionnaith is a member of the political staff for RTE News, breaking stories on TV, radio and online. He has worked for the national broadcaster since November 2019, being stationed on Morning Ireland (November 2019-November 2021), News at One (November 2021-February 2023) and the TV home desk (February 2023-June 2024) before returning to the Dail in summer 2024. Prior to joining RTE, Fiachra was a senior staff journalist focusing on health and later a political correspondent for the Irish Examiner (September 2008-November 2019), based at various stages in the Cork, Dublin and Dail offices. He previously worked for the Herald (2007-2008), Newstalk (2006-2008), Medicine Weekly (January 2005 to December 2007) and Magill magazine. During his career, Fiachra has covered stories from the White House, the EU Parliament and the Dail, winning multiple national media awards including Newsbrands Analysis of the Year in 2017 for the Grace foster abuse investigation.
Political Staff
RTE
Múirne Laffan
Múirne is a Nonexecutive Director of the Abbey Theatre and Irish Film & TV Academy and investor in NOA, News Over Audio. She is formerly Managing Director of Digital at RTÉ, leading the team the developed the RTÉ Player, GAAGO and RTÉ News Now.
Non Executive Director
Abbey Theatre
Nóirín Hegarty
Nóirín Hegarty is Editor-in-Chief at List magazine, a luxury travel publication and part of SRMG, the largest publishing group in the Middle East, employing 2,000 people in 18 cities and 30 titles including Arab News, Ashaq al-Awsat, Hia and Billboard Arabia. She currently leads teams in Riyadh, Dubai, Beirut and London producing content in English and Arabic in social, digital and print. She was Ireland Editor at The Times/The Sunday Times and Vice Chair of the board of Tourism Ireland immediately prior to her move to Riyadh in January 2024. As VP Digital Content at Lonely Planet, she was a member of the global senior leadership team and managed editorial teams in Nashville, New York, London and Dublin. Initially based in London, she moved to Dublin in 2015 to establish Lonely Planet's ROW HQ in Ireland. During her career she has held a number of leadership positions including editor of independent.ie and editor of The Sunday Tribune newspaper.
Editor-in-Chief
List magazine
Campbell Spray
Campbell Spray is a former Executive Editor with the Sunday Independent. After working in national and regional newspapers in Britain, he came to Ireland in 1979 where he was in turn Features Editor of the Irish Press. Editor of Social and Personal magazine and Assistant Editor of the Irish Independent before joining the Sunday Independent in 1985. He was also the paper's motoring correspondent for nearly25 years. He holds a MA in Ethics from Dublin City University.
Former Executive Editor
Sunday Independent
Isabel Hayes
Isabel Hayes is a legal journalist and director with CCC.Nuacht, a court reporting service based at the Criminal Courts of Justice. She specialises in reporting on ‘in camera’ abuse cases and has won two Justice Media Awards for her long-form journalism. Her work appears across Irish national media and she has written op-eds on court reporting issues for the Irish Times. She started her career in the Sunday Tribune before joining Australian Associated Press, where she was senior court reporter with its Sydney bureau.
Director, CCC.Nuacht
Journalist / Court Reporter
Criminal Courts of Justice
Allan Prosser
Allan Prosser has been a working journalist for 57 years. He is a former project manager, head of editorial operations and Editor of the Irish Examiner and wrote the last of more than 1,400 leaders for that newspaper in March this year. He has been a judge on the Irish Press Awards for nine years. He runs his own company, Third Wave Publishing, which provides training, development and guidance to content companies.
Owner and Editor
Third Wave Publishing
Kevin Jenkinson
Kevin Jenkinson is a Senior Media and Communications Associate at a United Nations agency. Previously, he did media relations for the global aid organisation Concern Worldwide and was on the board of Fairtrade Ireland. He is an experienced journalist who worked for many years at the Irish Daily Star.
Senior Media & Communications Associate - UN agency
Kate Shanahan
Kate Shanahan is the former Head of Journalism and munications at TU Dublin where she was also Senior Lecturer. Kate is an award-winning journalist and TV and Radio producer, and contributes to media both as a columnist and broadcast expert. She has worked as a Producer, and Series Producer for Ireland’s national Television and Radio station RTÉ, and as Executive Producer/ Series Producer with some of Ireland's leading TV production companies, across both current affairs and lifestyle strands. Kate is a founding member of the Women Leaders in Higher Education network, and has contributed to both national and international conferences on news and social media, journalism education, story-sourcing, fake news and fact-checking. She is a mentor for Women On Air Ireland, and has worked as a facilitator for the Council of Europe Media and Diversity program. She was a member of the Academic Advisory Board TU Dublin, and a member of the TU Dublin Academic Council. Published works include 'Crimes worse than Death' Attic Press, book chapters include 'Press Gang' New Island Books, 'The Celtic Tiger Revisited' Peter Lang International, Journalism Accreditation and Training in Europe' Nomos, 2026 additions 'Acts of Defiance' women and protests in Ireland. (2026) 'History in the making: the book of Hot Press interviews'(2026). She has been on the Judging Panel for Newsbrands Ireland’s National Media Awards since 2020 and was chair of the Judging Panel for the Local Media Awards 2019.
Journalist
TUDublin
Bob Hughes
Bob Hughes is Executive Director of Local Ireland, the association representing local news publishers across the country. A journalist and broadcaster, he was worked as a newspaper reporter, television producer, manager of journalists and newsrooms, and an international consultant for editorial, operational and digital strategies. His credits include TV3 Ireland, Channel 4 News, Reuters, Radio Ireland, the Press Association, the Thomson Foundation and TVC News Nigeria. He began his career in local newspapers.
Executive Director
Local Ireland
Martina Byrne
Dr Martina Byrne, FPRII, is a senior corporate communications, management and governance advisor. A former Chief Executive of the Public Relations Institute of Ireland (PRII) and the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) she has over 30 years’ experience advising boards and senior leadership teams on corporate reputation, stakeholder engagement, and strategic communications. Martina is a Fellow of the PRII, Founder and Principal Consultant at Byrne Consultants, and a member of the Board of the National Gallery of Ireland.
Principal Consultant
Jennifer Duggan
Jennifer Duggan is the Dublin Bureau Chief with Bloomberg. She previously worked as an editor with TIME magazine in New York and has been a foreign correspondent in China.
Bureau Chief
Bloomberg Dublin
Paul O'Kane
Paul O’Kane has more than 33 years' experience in Irish media, having worked in both corporate communications and national newspapers. He is currently a Director at Murray, working within the Corporate and Financial PR team for a range of blue-chip clients. Previously, Paul held the role of Chief Communications Officer (CCO) at airports operator daa. Before moving into corporate communications, Paul spent 15 years in journalism. He was Business Editor and Deputy Business Editor with The Sunday Tribune, and also worked as a business reporter and a news reporter/features writer publications such as The Irish Times, The Sunday Tribune, Cara magazine, and U magazine.
Director
Murray
Alana Fearon
Alana is an experienced digital communications, content, and PR specialist. Former national news editor and Head of Web and Digital. Helping brands cut through noise with clarity, creativity and compelling storytelling.
Head of Content
Freelance
Tony O'Brien
A native of Wexford, Tony O’Brien started his media career with the Wexford People. He later moved to the Irish Independent where he was appointed the Group’s first Environment Correspondent. In that award-winning role, he covered issues ranging from council meetings and planning to talking with whale fishermen above the Arctic Circle and visiting the infamous tower at Sellafield Nuclear Plant (formerly Windscale) in the UK, scene of a major explosion in the ‘50s. Tony spent 20 years with the Irish Independent where he also carved a niche as a music critic covering Life Aid at Wembley Stadium and U2’s debut at Madison Square Garden, New York, as well as major events at home including Bruce Springsteen’s legendary Slane Castle concert. Moving into the world of Public Relations, Tony worked with a leading agency before setting up his own consultancy, Tony O’Brien Communications, where he has advised clients such as Ticketmaster, Wicklow County Council, APCOA Parking Services, Eddie Rockets, SIXT Car Rental, the Ukulele Hooley and others. Tony is the author of “Going Green – the Irish Guide to Living a Greener Life” and edited the Roads Ireland journal. He contributes regularly to newspapers and magazines.
Managing Director
Tony O’Brien Communications
Alan Owens
Alan Owens is Head of External Communications at University of Limerick. A double graduate of UL, holding a BA in European Studies and an MA in History, Alan has held the positions of Communications Officer and Communications Manager since joining the University in 2019. Prior to joining UL, he was a journalist and editor at local and national level, including at the Limerick Leader/Iconic Media Group, where he worked as a journalist, Digital Editor and Assistant Editor for over 11 years. A regular contributor to national newspapers and broadcast radio during this time, he was also a multiple award-winner at the Local Ireland Media Awards.
Head of External Communications
University of Limerick
Áine Fitzgerald
Áine is an award-winning journalist and editor. In 2022 she became the first female to be appointed to the role of editor in the Limerick Leader’s 133-year history. Born and raised in Kilmallock, County Limerick, Áine completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, majoring in Media and Irish, followed by a Master’s in Journalism in NUI Galway where she graduated with first class honours.
Managing Editor
Limerick Leader
Brendan Keenan
Brendan Keenan was born in Belfast and educated at St McNissis s College in County Antrim and Queen s University, Belfast. He joined the Belfast Telegraph in 1969 as a junior reporter and throughout the early years of The Troubles he reported on the violence and trials which took place. In 1973 he was appointed Deputy Political Correspondent at the Belfast Telegraph where he covered the original inquiry into Bloody Sunday headed by the English Lord Chief Justice, Lord Widgery, the Ulster workers strike and the fall of the power-sharing Executive. In 1976 he became a reporter and presenter for RTE News Features where he conducted interviews on the News at One-Thirty and This Week before being appointed Economics correspondent in 1981. In 1983 he joined the Financial Times as Ireland Correspondent. As well as covering the continuing economic crisis of the period, this role also took in the turbulent politics of the time in the Republic and coverage of Northern Ireland, with the various political initiatives taking place. In 1986 he became Business Editor of the Irish Independent where he was responsible for the production of the business pages of the newspaper and introduced the Thursday business supplement. He was Economics Editor from 1992-2012 and wrote a weekly economics column until 2021.
Ex. Group Business Editor
Independent Newspapers
Hannah-Louise Dunne
Hannah-Louise was prompted to move into advertising a decade ago having witnessed the impact of digital transformation on newsrooms in her former role as a Showbusiness Editor with the Irish Daily Mail. Since then, she has worked across creative, content, and digital teams to innovate and discover new ways of storytelling for brands. She is passionate about great editorial, brilliant social strategy and finding new innovative ways through comms to tell stories about great brands. In her time in Core, she has led campaigns that have scooped gold in the US Content Marketing Awards, the European Sponsorship Awards, the Sockies, the Digital Media Awards and the Media Awards. In her free time, she writes about family, places she loves, and parenthood.
Social Strategy Director
Core Performance
Rhona Murphy
Rhona Murphy is an independent board director based in Dublin. She chairs the Board of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), and is a non executive director of Bus Eireann and a board director of the Design & Craft Council of Ireland. She also served nine years as a non executive director of The Irish Times DAC until June 2025. Murphy relocated back to her hometown in 2015 from New York where she had been CEO of The Daily Beast and the Interim CEO of Newsweek. Prior to that she had been the Global Publisher of Newsweek and before that she held senior sales and marketing management roles at Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal in New York and Singapore. She started her media career in London at The Times and Sunday Times after graduating from Trinity College, Dublin.
Chairperson - International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)
Des Gibson
Des Gibson is a journalist with over 30 years' experience in the Irish National Newspaper and website market. Formerly Editor of the Irish Daily Star and Star Sunday, Des was then overall Group Tabloid Editor for INM with direct Editorial responsibility for both The Sunday World and The Herald. For the past three years, he has been Managing Director and owner of GPM Solutions, a media strategy and advisory consultancy.
Owner & Founder GPM Solutions
Director of Media Relations
Carole Coleman
Journalist Carole Coleman has over 35 years experience as a broadcaster and writer. Carole has reported and presented widely across RTE. She was RTE’s Washington Correspondent (2000-2004) and Environment Correspondent (1996-2000). Her books tell first-hand stories of global news events. The Leitrim native teaches on media courses at the University of Galway and acts as master of ceremonies for local and national events. Carole is a member of Leitrim-based arts and music group Ensemble 32.
University of Galway
David Diebold
David Diebold was Features & Magazine Editor at Independent News & Media between 2001 and 2011. He has written for the Business Post, Irish Daily Mail, Irish Independent Magazine, Sunday Independent and for The Herald where his weekly column of seven years made the finals for National Newspapers of Ireland Feature Writer of the Year Award in 2011, and NewsBrand Ireland Popular Columnist in 2016. His writing has featured in Press Gang, Tales from the Glory Days of Irish Newspapers (New Island, 2015) and he is the author of This Is How We Dance (2019) and Diary of a Wimpy Dad (2021). Since 2011 he has owned and run a fortnightly local newspaper magazine in Skerries.
Author & Former national newspaper columnist
Donn O'Sullivan
Donn O'Sullivan is a prominent media and communications professional based in Limerick, Ireland. He currently serves as the Head of Marketing and Communications at Limerick City and County Council, where he plays a key role in promoting the city and its initiatives through platforms like Limerick.ie. Before his current role, O'Sullivan had a distinguished career in journalism. He was the Managing Editor of the Limerick Leader, having previously served as its Sports Editor. His journalism career also includes a tenure as Sports Editor and Content Manager at the Limerick Post, where he worked for over 15 years. In addition to his work in communications and journalism, O'Sullivan is a freelance radio and television sports commentator, contributing to various media outlets. He is also known for his involvement in community and civic events, such as promoting Limerick's hosting of the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor.
Head of Marketing and Communications Limerick City and County Council
Breda Brown
A former print and radio journalist, Breda Brown is Co-founder and Communications Director of Unique Media, a strategic communications consultancy. Services include PR, Public Affairs, Media Training, Podcast & Video Production, Digital & Social Media and Event Management. Unique Media has an on-site broadcast studio to facilitate the training services, as well as the recording of narration / voice-overs and the production of radio advertisements, videos and podcasts. Previously, Breda held a number of senior journalist positions including Head of News with Dublin’s Q102, Chief News Reporter with 98FM and Assistant Editor of Marketing.ie. Currently, she is the fill-in presenter on The Morning Show on East Coast Radio and The Agenda on LMFM, contributes regularly to national radio and television news and current affairs programmes, and acts as a MC/Moderator at industry and book events. A book lover, she is Chair of the Board of the Irish Writers Centre, reviews crime novels and presents the ‘Inside Books’ podcast. Breda holds an MA in Journalism and BA in Communication Studies, both from Dublin City University.
Co-Founder / Communications Director, Unique Media
Noel Costello
Noel Costello is a former Night Editor and Chief Sub-Editor of The Irish Times and worked with the newspaper for over 30 years. On graduating from Trinity College with a MScEcon in the 1970s he joined the Irish Press group as a news sub-editor. He also lectures in Economics in the Technological University Dublin.
Former Night Editor and Chief Sub-Editor
The Irish Times
Eileen Martin
With almost four decades of experience across journalism, photography and communications, Eileen Martin brings extensive editorial expertise and a keen understanding of what makes a compelling story. A journalist and photojournalist by background, Eileen spent more than 20 years as Photo Editor of Sunday Times Ireland, overseeing visual content and working at the heart of a fast-paced national newsroom. Her career has encompassed news, features, picture editing, commissioning and storytelling across print and digital media. She is now Communications Manager with for The Sanctuary Runners, a solidarity-through-sport initiative, where she draws on her editorial experience to lead strategic communications, develop engaging content and raise the profile of the organisation and its work which uses running, jogging and walking to bring together asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and Irish residents.
Communications Manager
The Sanctuary Runners
Caitríona Morrissey is a former deputy editor of the Irish Farmers Journal. Her 20-year journalism career began as a news and features reporter with Independent News and Media where she worked for over 10 years across multiple publications including the Irish Independent, Farming Independent and Weekend Review. She also freelanced for other publications including the British sports magazine Horse & Hound. She then moved to The Irish Field, Ireland's national equestrian publication, as editor of its sport horse supplement, before moving to the Irish Farmers Journal to become its news editor and then deputy editor. She has been a regular contributor to RTÉ news and current affairs programmes.
Chief Delivery Officer
GlasPort Bio
Tom Felle
Tom Felle is Associate Professor of Journalism at the University of Galway, Ireland. He has a diverse background in journalism, having worked as a journalist and foreign correspondent for various media organisations in Ireland, the UK, Brussels, Sydney and Beirut for more than a decade before transitioning into academia. He was formerly based at City, University of London, and from 2018 to 2023 was Head of the Department of Media at the University of Galway. His research interests encompass digital news, verification, data-driven journalism, so-called “fake news” and disinformation, and democracy-related topics such as trust, transparency, and accountability. He has provided advice and testimony to national governments and the EU, and collaborated with the United Nations migration agency, IOM, as the lead academic partner for the Global Migration Media Academy from 2020-2022. Most recently he was a Fulbright Scholar in Los Angeles, California in 2023/24. He has authored or edited five books on journalism and democracy issues.
Associate Professor of Journalism
University of Galway
Aoife Finneran
Aoife Finneran is Director of Communications at the all-island body Safefood, where she leads the creation and management of communications programmes aimed at supporting people to make safe and healthy food choices. She joined Safefood from the Department of Health where she held the role of Communications Manager. She previously enjoyed an 18-year career as an editor and journalist, winning the Newsbrands Ireland Features (Popular) Journalist of the Year Award in 2018. She spent a decade working across the news and features departments with News UK & Ireland, and previously worked as a reporter and feature writer with the Independent Group (now MediaHuis).
Director of Communications
Safefood
Graeme Lennox
Head of Group Communications at Volkswagen Group Ireland
Head of Group Communications Volkswagen Group Ireland
_edited.jpg)
Tim Vaughan
Tim is an accomplished media and communications professional and is currently Editorial Director of Poppulo, a global leader in employee communications. He was editor of the Irish Examiner for 16 years, during which the newspaper won multiple awards for campaigning journalism. After moving on from the Irish Examiner in 2016, he was chair of Irish Journalism Awards judging panel for three years
Editorial Director, Poppulo
Ex-Editor, Irish Examiner
Pamela Duncan is a lecturer in journalism and an award-winning data journalist with extensive experience in investigative and cross-border reporting. She was previously editor of the Guardian's Data Projects team, where she led and collaborated on major investigations, combining large-scale data analysis with narrative reporting. She was named UK Data Journalist of the Year at the Press Awards in 2026 and was selected for the 2026 European Press Prize for Inside the everyday Facebook networks where far-right ideas grow. Her work spans climate change, housing, health, inequality, political financing and environmental accountability. She has a particular interest in the role social media plays in society, including far-right radicalisation, hate speech, and democratic influence. Before joining The Guardian, she was a data journalist at The Irish Times, where she co-founded the Irish Times Data Blog and helped pioneer data-driven storytelling in Irish newsrooms. She has collaborated on international investigations including the Pandora Papers, Uber Files, Russian Asset Tracker and other large-scale cross-border projects. Alongside her newsroom work, she has taught and delivered training in data and investigative journalism internationally, working with universities, journalism organisations and reporters in multiple countries.
Lecturer - Journalism
University of Galway
Gareth Hickey
Gareth Hickey is co-founder and CEO of Dublin-based audio-journalism app Noa (News Over Audio). As well as being a consumer subscription-based app, Noa is a leading producer of narrated articles for publications such as Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, The FT and many more. Noa has over 150k registered listeners worldwide and its audio articles reach over 1m listeners a month, with key markets being the U.S., Europe and India.
Co-founder & CEO
Noa (News Over Audio).
Sandra Murphy
Sandra Murphy is a communications professional, former journalist and news editor with extensive experience across media, public affairs and government communications. An award-winning reporter, she has received a Justice Media Award, National Media Award, Specialist Journalist of the Year and Young Journalist of the Year recognition. She holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Newspaper Journalism and an MSc in Applied Digital Media. Her public sector communications work has also been recognised through Our Public Service Excellence and Innovation Awards and a Sockies Award for digital communications. She currently works within the Department of Defence on national communications and emergency planning initiatives in the Office of Emergency Planning.
Siobhán O'Connell
An experienced business entrepreneur, award winning business journalist, moderator, radio and television contributor, Siobhán began her career in journalism when she joined the launch team of the Sunday Business Post in 1989. As Media & Marketing Editor, she was named National Young Journalist of The Year in 1993 at the annual newspaper industry awards. In 1998 she co-founded Business Plus magazine. As well as overseeing the commercial side of the business, she was a senior editorial director and executed the publication’s online and social media strategy. From 2006, she was also the Irish Times Media & Marketing columnist, and a finalist in the specialist business category in The Business Journalist Awards 2009. In January 2022, Business Plus was acquired by DMG Media. In August 2024, Siobhán established Snoetica, a boutique B2B content consultancy.
Commercial Director
Snoetica
Luke Holohan
Luke Holohan is a journalist and copywriter based in Berlin. Formerly a journalist with Metro Herald, UTV Ireland, Filmwerte, Candide Gardening, and Il Giornale, Luke currently works as Head of Content for promiseQ.
Head of Content
PromiseQ
Cristín Leach is a specialist arts journalist with thirty years’ experience working across print, broadcast and digital platforms. As art critic for The Sunday Times Ireland, she wrote and published more than half a million words about Irish art. She is a broadcaster with RTÉ and her writing has been widely published, including in Winter Papers, Irish Arts Review, journals and curated anthologies. Her divorce memoir Negative Space was a critically-acclaimed bestseller.
RTÉ
Dr Michael Foley
Michael Foley has been a journalist, writer, broadcaster, and teacher, and has worked in media development. He has worked in newspapers and as an academic. His area of expertise is journalism in emerging democracies. He has worked in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, both as a journalist and journalism educator and trainer. He holds an MPhil degree and a PhD in media in transitional societies. He has taught undergraduate and Masters students in journalism and supervises PhD students. He is the author of Death in Every Paragraph: Journalism & the Great Irish Famine (2015), Quinnipiac University Press/Cork UP. Former Chair, Press Pass, the NewsBrand (the Irish National Newspapers' publishers body) News Literacy programme for transition year students. Irish Correspondent, Reporters Without Borders. Member, Press Council of Ireland Code Committee. Member, National Union of Journalists, Ethics Council.
Professor Emeritus - School of Media
Technological University Dublin
Sean Dunne
Seán Dunne is a Deputy Editor with RTÉ News specialising in TV news programmes. Prior to this he worked as a radio producer on RTE Radio One where he worked on a variety of shows including Drivetime and Today with Claire Byrne. He has also worked as a TV producer with Virgin Media Ireland and written for several national publications. In 2016 he was the NewsBrands Ireland Young Journalist of the year for his work with The Irish Daily Mail.
Deputy Editor, TV News Programmes
RTÉ News & Current Affairs
David Gilbert
David Gilbert is a reporter with two decades of experience covering technology. He currently works at WIRED where he covers disinformation, online extremism, and how they impact people’s lives across the globe, with a special focus on US politics and elections. He is a regular contributor to CNN, PBS, and MSNBC, as well as RTE radio and TV. Prior to joining WIRED, David worked at VICE News. He lives in Ireland.
Journalist
WIRED Mazazine
Declan Varley
Declan Varley is Group Editor of the Galway Advertiser Newspaper group, a position he has held since 2001. In that time, as a key member of a progressive management team, he has overseen the growth of the newspaper into the highest circulation regional publication in the country. Holding Masters degrees in Writing; and Culture, Media and Identity, Declan has been a prolific journalist and author, winning global and European accolades for the quality and fairness of his weekly editorial and writing. He won an EU Regional Journalist Award in 1998 for his work in the Tuam Herald. He has written for international, national and regional publications and is an avid and witty Twitter contributor.
Group Editor
Galway Advertiser Newspaper group
Dr Roderick Flynn
Dr Roddy Flynn is an Associate Professor at the School of Communications, Dublin City University where he is the incoming chair of the MA in Journalism. He researches and writes extensively on aspects of the Irish media industries with a particular focus on issues relating to media pluralism, diversity and ownership. Once upon a time he also worked as a film journalist and produced and presented "Viewfinder" on Dublin City FM.
Associate Professor
DCU School of Communications
Andrew Kealy
Andrew has more than 20 years experience in the newspaper industry. He spent 14 years at Independent News and Media, working initially as a sub-editor across the paper's titles and latterly as Assistant Editor on the Irish Independent. He worked for seven years at DMG where he was Night Editor and then Deputy Editor on the Irish Daily Mail before ultimately taking the role of Deputy Editor on the Irish Mail On Sunday. Having always had an interest in technology, he studied software engineering, initially as a hobby. In 2022 he decided to pivot to a career in technology. Andrew now works for Fidelity Investments.
Manager | Editor | Journalist | Communications
Lorcan Allen
Lorcan Allen is Managing Director of Keating & Associates, having joined the business in 2024. Prior to that, he spent over a decade working in business journalism, where he covered areas such as Agri-food, Energy, Pharma, Finance and Sustainability. Lorcan is a former Agribusiness Editor of the Irish Farmers Journal and the former Business Editor of the Business Post. He was named as the NewsBrands Business Journalist of the Year in 2020 and is also a Nuffield Farming Scholar.
Managing Director
Keating & Associates
_edited.jpg)
Jamie Smyth
Jamie Smyth is the US energy editor of the Financial Times. He is based in the New York bureau and manages a team covering the US oil, gas and renewables sectors. He previously worked as the FT’s US pharmaceutical correspondent, Australia correspondent and Ireland correspondent. Prior to the FT he reported for The Irish Times newspaper in Brussels and Dublin.
US energy editor
Financial Times
Michael McCarthy
Michael McCarthy is Managing Editor of Off The Ball. With extensive experience in sports journalism, broadcasting and digital media, Michael has overseen coverage of major national and international sporting events and helped shape Off The Ball’s editorial strategy across radio, podcast, video and online platforms. Michael has worked with Newstalk and Off The Ball since 2007, becoming the show's producer in 2013. In 2016, Michael became Editor of Balls.ie before returning to Off The Ball in 2021. Passionate about high-quality sports storytelling, Michael has collaborated with journalists and broadcasters across the industry throughout a career spanning radio, digital publishing, podcasting and live events.
Managing Editor
Off The Ball
Richie Oakley
Richie Oakley is a director at Murray Consultants. He moved to PR following a 25-year career in journalism. He is a former editor of The Business Post and The Times, Ireland edition. He has previously worked for The Sunday Times Irish Edition and The Sunday Tribune.
Director
Murray Consultants
Matthew Nugent
Matthew Nugent always wanted to be a journalist, starting his school newspaper when he was eleven years old! In 1973 he moved to London and started freelance writing for music magazines, and filing soccer reports. From 1974 he worked as a sports reporter at the Associated Press, The News Line and Guardian, before sports editor roles at The News On Sunday, and the London Evening News. Returning home in 1988 he worked at the Irish Star, became Chief sub at the Evening Herald, and worked at the Irish Sun before retiring. In 1990 he wrote Captain Fantastic with Mick McCarthy, the biggest selling book that year. He still writes a weekly wine column for the Irish Sun.
Independent Consultant & Member
Irish Food Writers Guild
Brian Gleeson is Head of Sport at Virgin Media Television and a highly experienced sports broadcaster and media executive. Over a career spanning more than 20 years, he has held senior production roles with Virgin Media Television, beIN SPORTS and Sky Sports. Brian has worked on some of the world's biggest sporting events, including the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, Premier League, Six Nations and Olympic Games. Brian has built a reputation for delivering high quality sports coverage, innovative storytelling and audience-focused content across television, digital and live production.
Head of Sport
Virgin Media Television
Niall is the Head of Communications and Media at Dóchas, the Irish Network of Humanitarian Organisations. He is a highly experienced media professional who has spent the last 15 years working in some of the biggest newsrooms in the world. He has covered world events including the Arab Spring, Brexit, the first Trump Presidency and the Covid Pandemic for Sky News, the Associated Press and CNN. He has been involved in the coverage of three US Presidential elections, three UK elections and was a key member of the production team for CNN's coverage of the Brexit referendum, which was broadcast in more than 180 countries. In 2021 Niall returned home to Ireland to produce 'The Tonight Show', on Virgin Media.
Head of Communications and Media
Dóchas