Westmeath Independent series was among Mary Raftery Prize shortlist

A Westmeath Independent feature was included in the shortlist for the prestigious Mary Raftery Prize for social affairs journalism, the winner of which was announced last week.

The prize has been awarded for a podcast on the Stardust tragedy, produced by Sean Murray, Nicky Ryan and Christine Bohan from journal.ie

The Westmeath Independent's Geraldine Grennan was the only regional newspaper finalist among eight shortlisted nominees.

Geraldine's three-part series, “Spotlight on Domestic Violence”, published in the Westmeath Independent, was described by the judges as “having a strong research focus, very rounded reporting, not just victim-focused but also including an analysis of services”.

The Mary Raftery Prize is awarded annually to an individual or small team responsible for social affairs journalism produced on the island of Ireland in the calendar year preceding the award which, in the view of the judges, combined the rigorous analysis and commitment to social justice that characterised Mary Raftery’s journalism, and resulted in a significant impact on society.

The prize consists of a medal engraved with the winner’s name and an award of €1,000. Administered by the School of Communications, Dublin City University, the Prize is funded by a bequest from the Mary Raftery Journalism Fund and is sponsored by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI).

In assessing the winning entry, the judges – Prof. Mary Corcoran, Maynooth University; Pat Brennan (formerly of The Sunday Tribune) and Andy Pollak (former editor of Fortnight) – described “Stardust” as “a powerful podcast, forming a compelling narrative of lost life, an inadequate response from state institutions, and a lasting sense of abandonment and injustice in a bereft working class community. Historic sources - such as the Tribunal report - were used to great effect, as were interviews from those who were in the Stardust on the night of the fire. It is superbly crafted and a very moving account of the 1981 Stardust fire and the families’ long-drawn-out campaign to get justice”.

Commenting on the Prize announcement, chair of the judging panel, Dr Mark O’Brien said that the quality of entries indicates a healthy public appetite for factual and research-based journalism that sheds light on injustice and on the lack of openness, transparency, fairness and equality that often characterises Irish society and its institutions.

The other shortlisted nominees for the 2019 Prize were:

“Crechés: Behind Closed Doors” – RTÉ Investigations Unit (Doireann O’Hara, Aoife Hegarty and Paul Maguire)

“No Child 2020” – The Irish Times (Ruadhán Mac Cormaic, Fintan O’Toole, Kitty Holland, Conor Goodman)

“The Case of Majella Moynihan” – RTÉ Documentary on One (Aoife Kelleher, Sarah Blake and Liam O’Brien)

“Enough is Enough – No Excuses” and “Open Your Eyes to STIs” – Beat 102 103 (Michelle Heffernan)

“A Bridge Too far” – journal.ie / noteworthy.ie (Maria Delaney and Ken Foxe)

“Homelessness” – The Irish Times (Kitty Holland)