Long serving Clare Champion journalist, Tony Mulvey has been honoured with a Media Award for his distinguished service to the regional press.
A native of Colonroad in Ennis, Tony joined The Clare Champion staff all of 58 years ago and during his time with the newspaper, owned by the Galvin family, he has chronicled events be they news, current affairs or sporting events that have defined the Banner County.
His late father, George was editor of The Clare Champion prior to his death in 1958.
Tony was presented with his award at the annual Mid West Press Ball in The Strand Hotel, Limerick by special guest, Finance Minister Michael Noonan. Limerick Live95FM’s Len Dineen, who has been working in radio locally since the 1970s, was also honoured.
JT McNamara, the Limerick jockey who died tragically in July from injuries sustained in a fall, was the posthumous recipient of the biennial Shannon Group Media Merit award.
Presented by special guest Finance Minister and Shannon Group chairman Rose Hynes to the late jockey’s wife Caroline, the late father-of-three was chosen for the award for the heroism he showed in battling injuries following his horrific fall at Cheltenham three years ago.
Rose Hynes, chairman of award sponsors Shannon Group, said,“It is a great honour for Shannon Group to be associated with this award for JT. Everyone was struck by the massive sense of loss around JT’s death. Caroline and children Dylan, Harry and Olivia have shown remarkable strength and courage in the most difficult of times. ”
Press Ball chairman Ron Kirwan from Shannon said, “When we sat down to decide the recipient of the award, once JT’s name was mentioned, the decision was made. The news of JT’s passing ripped through the heart of the region, the country and the entire horse racing world. For a young man to die doing what he loved and for his livelihood is tragic to say the very least.”
The Press Ball, which was first held in 1951, has raised hundreds of thousands of euro for charities and voluntary bodies across the Mid-West region. This year’s event will see funds principally go to local children’s charities and services.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.