The Andersonstown News has been rewarded by the GAA for our coverage of the 2009 Ulster Senior Football Final. 

The paper will collect a McNamee Award at a glittering awards ceremony in Croke Park on Saturday evening, hosted by GAA President Christy Cooney.

The GAA picked out the July 18 edition of the Andersonstown News for special recognition, which reflected the great excitement in the county in the build up to the 2009 Ulster football decider. The final was Antrim’s first provincial final appearance since this newspaper was founded in 1972.

The winning paper featured a 16-page full colour commemorative supplement and was the first-ever Thursday edition of the Andersonstown News to revert from its normal red masthead to a saffron-coloured banner in support of the Antrim footballers.

The judges praised the Andersonstown News for capturing the excitement of the final as well as recognising the historical significance of the match. 

“In a year (2009) where Antrim senior footballers reached the Ulster final for the first time in 30 years, the Andersonstown News rose superbly to the challenge of reflecting the interest, drama and excitement experienced by the county’s GAA supporters,” read a statement from the judges.

“It struck the ideal balance between conveying the immediate joy of the occasion while also accurately representing the deep sense of pride the Antrim GAA community has in its history and heritage.”

McNamee Awards

The McNamee Awards are the GAA’s communication and media awards, significantly named after another Antrim man, Pádraig McNamee, the former President of the GAA, chairman of the GAA Commission and a member of the RTÉ authority. 

They are presented annually in recognition of outstanding contributions made by individuals and Association units in the area of media and communications.

Andersonstown News Sports Editor Conor McLoughlin, who will collect the award on Saturday evening, thanked everyone who contributed to the edition.

“As with every edition of the Andersonstown News, this award-winning edition was a massive team effort, but I would like to thank in particular the hard work of our journalists, photographers and the long list of contributors: Ed McGinley, David Mohan, Gerard Magee, Francesca Ryan, Jim Corr, William Boyd, Mark Jones, Terry Gibbons, Paul McErlean, Andy McCallin and Ray McIlroy,” said Conor.

“But our coverage would have been pointless without the unbelievable access and time Antrim manager Liam Bradley gave us, and to the players who fielded numerous phone calls from us throughout the year, so many thanks to Liam and the boys for all their help.”

Award winners

Other award winners include Ballyhea GAA Club from Cork who won the best website prize, photographer Oliver McVeigh from Sportsfile who once again captured the picture of the year and Sean McGoldrick of the Sunday World who won the National Media Award for his insights into Brian Cody’s All-Ireland winning Kilkenny team.

You can read a digital copy of the 2009 supplement by clicking here.