Media award for Westmeath Independent at showpiece industry event
The Westmeath Independent was honoured at this year's Local Ireland Awards for regional news publishers.
The Westmeath Independent took home the Best Advertising Campaign award for a campaign it ran with TUS Athlone.
An advertising campaign entitled 'Build Warmth with Grant' in the Westmeath Independent was among the other three shortlisted nominations in that same category.
The Local Ireland Media Awards, sponsored by the National Lottery, celebrate excellence in local journalism and the regional news publishing industry.
It was special night for Celtic Media Group - the parent company of Westmeath Independent - with sister titles nominated in many categories and also winning awards.
The Meath Chronicle scooped the 'Best Use of Digital Media' award for its coverage of the live stream coverage of the homecoming of the victorious All-Ireland winning Meath Ladies Senior Football Team in 2021.
The Anglo Celt took two top gongs. The news team won News Story of the Year for 'Eden's Legacy' - their coverage of the tragic death of teenager Eden Heaslip and his family's work to highlight bullying and call for action to tackle the long running issue.
Anglo Celt sports writer Paul Fitzpatrick was named Columnist of the Year for his popular Cavanman's Diary series.
Frank Mulrennan, chief executive of Celtic Media Group, said: “It is with real pride that we can report on 4 winners and 14 nominations in these prestigious awards.
“I want to congratulate our winners and nominees from right across the news and advertising sales departments in The Anglo Celt, Meath Chronicle, Westmeath Examiner and Westmeath Independent.
“I am particularly delighted that we won the Best Advertising Campaign for the Westmeath Independent’s TUS – Athlone advertising, which is a most sought after category.
"Our newspapers have been publishing journalism of the highest standard for almost 175 years and we have are currently successfully migrating to a multi-platform offering of print; online and social media. These awards reflect the professionalism and dedication of our journalists and sales consultants.”
President of Local Ireland Declan McGuire said: “We are delighted to have had more than 600 entries this year, which is a record.
“It reflects the huge popularity of the awards and the intense competition to get a nomination.
“We are grateful to the National Lottery for their continued support and I want to thank all our judges for their time in considering so many entries.”
The awards were sponsored by the National Lottery and staged in the Bloomfield House Hotel in Mullingar.
The judging panel was chaired by entrepreneur and broadcaster Áine Kerr while the events was MC'd by Marty Morrissey.