The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
THE Clare Champion has scooped another award at the Local Ireland Media Awards, as reporter Dan Danaher’s series focusing on the EPA took the news series prize.
This is the second award for The Clare Champion in the two year history of the Local Ireland Media Awards, as last year the regional newspaper took the prize for best feature article.
Also nominated for an award was ‘Clare Champion reporter Peter O’Connell for his news story, Death by Geography.
Over a 10 week period, Dan Danaher’s award winning news series examined the environmental compliance of 17 local companies who deal with various different types of chemicals and hazardous waste.
Of those that were featured in The Clare Champion/Mary Raftery Special Investigation, 15 companies were initially granted Integrated Pollution and Prevention Control (IPPC) licences.
The two exceptions were Enva and Clean Ireland Recycling Limited, who have waste licences. The main function of these licences is to ensure that companies, who are handling potentially toxic chemicals and waste that can seriously damage the environment, operate to the highest standards.
The investigation looked at the companies’ environmental compliance and examined the effectiveness of the EPA to act as an independent environmental watchdog.
The series placed the current self-monitoring reporting system by companies for environmental breaches under the spotlight.
The Local Ireland Media Awards was presented at a ceremony in the Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise, on Thursday, May 18 and Michael Lyster, RTÉ sports broadcaster was the MC on the night.
The awards event is organised by Local Ireland, which is the promotional brand of the Regional Newspapers and Printers Association of Ireland (RNPAI).
The group represents 35 companies across the country, including newspaper titles and printing companies.
