The Echo nominated for four journalism awards

The Echo and EchoLive.ie have received four nominations in this year’s Local Ireland Media Awards, which has had a record number of entries.

More than 700 entries were made for this year’s awards, which introduced two new categories for political coverage of the year and young journalist of the year.

News reporter Donal O’Keeffe, who last year won an award for best news series for his “Shocking conditions for Council tenants in Cork city” series, has once again been nominated in this category, for his “Cork City Council ‘failing most vulnerable tenants’” series.

Last year also saw The Echo’s Kate Ryan win the best sustainability journalist award, and Ms Ryan has again been nominated in this category, for her article “Food sustainability in practice”.

Mr O’Keeffe and Ms Ryan were among The Echo’s three winners at last year’s awards, with Timothy O’Mahony also taking home the National Lottery best community journalist award.

This year, news reporter Amy Campbell has been nominated in the new young journalist of the year category for her article “Anti-social acts on trains”, while Aílín Quinlan has been nominated as columnist of the year for her “Speeders, louts, and litterbugs on our roads” column.

The awards are in their 10th year and are sponsored by the National Lottery with support from Coimisiún na Meán.

Chair of the judges, author, journalist and broadcaster Alison O’Connor said: “These awards highlight the excellence and diversity of local journalism.

“All told, the standard shows how well communities around the country are served by their local newspapers.” Winners of the awards will be announced at a gala dinner at the Mullingar Park Hotel on September 11.