Greg Daly
The Irish Catholic has scooped a major international religious journalism prize for the second year running.
The ‘Welcome, Pope Francis’ special issue won first place in the ‘Best special supplement – one-time special issue’ category of the Catholic Press Awards, held this year in St Petersburg, Florida. The award to the staff of The Irish Catholic for the 48-page special issue, published just ahead of the Pope’s arrival in Ireland in August 2018, follows last year’s triumph in the same category for 2017’s ‘Reformation 500’ issue.
The newspaper placed in five categories in this year’s awards, and received two honourable mentions, building on last year’s performance, when, entering the Catholic Press Association competition for the first time, The Irish Catholic placed in four categories and received one honourable mention.
Coverage of how a group that campaigned for reduced religious influence in Church-owned schools was recognised by the State’s ethics watchdog as a campaigning organisation in receipt of funds vastly in excess of amounts permitted for such groups earned this newspaper a second-place award for investigative news writing (1, 2, 3).
Analysis of three (1, 2, 3) disappointing aspects of 2018’s papal visit also won the paper a third-place ranking in the ‘Best coverage – papal trips’ category.
The Pope’s visit also provided the context for the third-place winner in the ‘Best personality profile – national newspaper or wire service’ category for ‘From addiction’s darkness to family joy’, a feature on onetime heroin addict Damien Richardson.
Determination
The Irish Catholic also won a third-place ranking for ‘Best coverage – religious liberty issues’, taking into account Susan Gately’s February 2018 profile of pro-life student Katie Ascough, David Quinn’s August piece on apparent Government determination to exclude religion from public life, and Dr Noreen O’Carroll’s December claim that ‘The abortion law is about coercion and manipulation’.
This newspaper also received honourable mentions in the ‘Best national newspaper’ category and for ‘Best analysis’, the latter for ‘Changing the electoral landscape’, a May 2018 piece on Google’s role in last year’s referendum on the rights of the unborn.