GAA communicators in Mayo invited to enter MacNamee Awards
The GAA MacNamee Awards are held annually to honour excellence in the area of communications, public relations and journalism, specifically related to the activities of the association.
These awards are named after the late Pádraig MacNamee, former president of the GAA, chairman of the GAA Commission (1969-1971) and member of RTÉ Authority.
Applications for the 2024 GAA MacNamee Awards are now being accepted from Mayo and throughout Ireland.
It should be noted that only work published or completed in the 2024 calendar year is eligible for consideration and entries will not be returned.
The awards scheme will be judged under the following headings:
· Best Digital Impact Award - for a club or county’s use of existing digital channels, own creative content or cutting-edge innovations (video, streaming, podcasts, newsletter, archives, other) to present a story or activity online. Entries should: illustrate the Who, What, Where, When and Why of entry; illustrate innovation or use of new technologies, where relevant; list examples of content for the campaign; give examples of engagement with the online community; and give illustration of results achieved and future development/use
· Best GAA Publication - to cover general works focussing on the association
· Best GAA Club Publication - to cover GAA county yearbooks and club histories
· Best Photograph - focussing on the best GAA-themed image
· Best Programme - to cater for all match day programmes produced for any level of the GAA
· Best GAA Related Radio Programme - to cater for all GAA programming broadcast either nationally or locally
· Provincial Media Award - to acknowledge high quality written journalism in a provincial publication
· National Media Award - to acknowledge high quality written journalism in national daily or Sunday publication
· Irish Language Award / Gradam na Gaeilge - to recognise excellence in the field of Irish language GAA journalism across all media
HIGHEST STANDARDS
A Hall of Fame Award / Outstanding Service Award will also be made in recognition of a prolonged personal involvement in the coverage of GAA activities to the highest standards.
All entries should be marked GAA MacNamee Awards 2024 and addressed for the attention of Alan Milton, Director of Communications, Croke Park, Dublin 3, or emailed to awards@gaa.ie. Entrants should also clearly state what category they are submitting their entry under.
Award winners will be contacted in due course with further details in relation to the awards presentations. The closing date for entries is Friday, December 20.
In the 2023 awards, presented recently, John Walker accepted the Best Digital Impact Award on behalf of Mayo GAA from Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael, Jarlath Burns.
Led by Walker, the PRO, the Mayo GAA communications team was recognised for utilising 'an impressive digital strategy', seeing it grow into one of the largest county social media footprints in the country. From the strategy, Mayo GAA's online traffic surged by 60%.
Other notable winners in the 2023 MacNamee Awards were: Best Programme – Roscommon Senior Football Championship Final Programme; Best GAA Related Radio Programme – Galway Bay FM, 'The Men of 23', presented by Ollie Turner; and Provincial Media Award – Damian Dolan, Irish World, 'The Game of Their Lives'.