STUDENTS involved in An Focal, ULFM and Cellar Door have been nominated for various awards at this year’s Smedias (Student Media) awards.
The ceremony, which takes place this Thursday in the Ballsbridge Hotel Dublin, will be presented by TV personality Dermot Whelan. In previous years, it has been hosted by well-known Irish personalities such as Katherine Thomas and Daithi O’Shea. The event itself, which is in it’s 12th year, awards excellence in a number of categories relating to student media.
1st year Electronic and Computer engineering student, Kieran Caplice, has been nominated for Website Designer of the Year. Mr Caplice designed the current AnFocal.ie website as well as the website for ULFM Student Radio Station. Commenting on the achievement, Mr Caplice said “I am in fact delighted and really looking forward to the awards”.
The print version of An Focal has also been nominated in the categories of Newspaper of the Year and the People’s Choice Award. Other nominees for Newspaper of the Year include TCD’s “University Times” , “The Bull” and “Trinity News”, and UCD’s “University Observer”. While voting is curretly underway for the People’s Choice award, which An Focal won in 2011 and 2010. Voting is simple, and takes place here. Previous years have shown TCD typically take home around 33% of all awards with the overall majority of winners based in the Dublin area.
ULFM, the first full-time streaming only radio station of ULSU, sees its first nomination with Clodagh Garry and Mai Morrissey nominated for Iriseoireacht i nGaeilge (Raidio) for their production of the Top 30 as Gaeilge on ULFM. ULFM Presenter Liam Seck was also shortlisted for Radio Production of the Year but was unfortunatly knocked out at the final stage. ULFM Founder, Kelly O’Brien, stated “I’m absolutley delighted that ULFM was shortlisted twice for radio journalism and production. When you think about it, the station has only been streaming for eight months and yet we’re already attending our first Smedia Awards! The standard of shows has grown immensely this semester, we’ve come a long way and I’d like to say a big thank you to all involved”.
Cellar Door, a literary magazine published by the ULSU last semester, has also been nominated. Two contributors to the magazine, Dearbhaile Houston and Shane Vaughan have been nominated for Short Story of the Year.
A number of UL students were shortlisted in various categories but did not reach the final nomination stage. This includes the aforementioned radio presenter Liam Seck as well as An Focal writers Aisling Hussey and Brige Newman and 3rd Year MMPT student John Slattery. Ms O’Brien went on to say that “Though not everyone shortlisted reached final nominations, I just want to stress what an achievement it is to be shortlisted at all. We’ve had more shortlisted this year than ever before and it just shows how far Limerick media has come in such a short time”.
This year also saw the inaugural ULSU Media Awards, in which those who participated in An Focal, ULFM and Cellar Door were presented with certificates and awards in specific categories including ULSU Journalist of the Year, won by Aisling Hussey and ULFM Presenter of the Year, won by Eanna Brown. An Focal Editor Kelly O’Brien also presented two Special Achievement Awards to Colm Fitzgerald and Jason Kennedy in recognition of their work this academic year.
Colm Fitzgerald
Molly Cantwell 
Daragh De Klein