RTS Ireland is delighted to announce that Dara Ó Briain will be among those recognised in the inaugural RTS Ireland Television Awards 2021. Dara will receive the BAI Outstanding Contribution Award and nine other award winners will be revealed in a programme to be broadcast at 11pm on Virgin Media One on Tuesday March 30th, presented by Muireann O’Connell.
27 other nominees were announced today in nine categories from the 126 entries received, including RTÉ’s Normal People, Virgin Media Television’s News coverage – COVID News Special – Opening Up The Country, TG4’s Is Olc an Ghaoth and Sky Sports’ Coverage of the GAA Championships.
The RTS Ireland Television Awards are supported by all the mainstream Irish Broadcasters – Virgin Media Television, RTÉ, TG4 & Sky Ireland – and by the wider television industry including the Broadcast Authority of Ireland and Screen Ireland to recognise excellence in Irish Television production and in Irish international co-productions during 2020.
Our list of generous sponsors includes IMRO, Screenscene, Windmill Lane, CameraKit.ie, TVM, Nemeton TV, Egg Post Production and Piranha Bar.
The RTS Ireland Television Awards committee recruited independent judges from across the industry at home and abroad, who spent the last few weeks reviewing and evaluating creative excellence and achievement in nine categories. Their short-lists for nominees in the respective categories are as follows:
1 – The Screen Ireland Drama Award
Dead Still – Deadpan Pictures, Shaftesbury
Normal People – Element Pictures
Is Olc an Ghaoth – Lunar Pictures
2 – Entertainment
Dancing with the Stars – ShinAwiL Ltd
Ultimate Hell Week – Motive Television
Marty & Bernard – On The Road Again – ShinAwiL Ltd
3 – Factual Series
David Brophy’s Unsung Heroes – Tyrone Productions
Big Life Fix – Kite Entertainment
The Boys In Green – Loosehorse
4 – Factual Single
Abbeyfealegood – Atom Films
Love & Loss in a Pandemic – RTÉ
Toraigh: Creag Bheag i Lár na Farraige – Lugh Films, Dearcán Media, Tita Productions
5 – Sport
Laochra Gael – Kieran Donaghy – Nemeton TV
New Gaels – Poolbeg Productions
Sky Sports’ Coverage of the GAA Championships – Sky Sports
6 – News & Current Affairs
RTÉ Investigates – Inside Ireland’s Covid Battle; Life & Death – RTÉ
COVID News Special – Opening up the Country – Virgin Media News
General Election 2020 – Results Coverage – RTÉ
7 – Animation
The Voyage – JAM Media
The Christmas Letter – Dream Logic Animation
The Dead Hands of Dublin – Pink Kong Studios
8 – Specialist Factual
The Funeral Director – GMarshTV Productions
The Francis Street Photographer – Zucca Films/That’s A Wrap TV
Cogadh ar Mhná/ A War on Women – ForeFront Productions
9 – Children’s Programme
Home School Hub – Macalla Teoranta
Tina Times Two – Dyehouse Films
Sol – Paper Owl Films
Speaking at the announcement of the nominees, RTS Ireland Television Awards Committee chairperson, Niall Cogley, said:
“We are proud to launch our inaugural RTS Ireland Television Awards with the wholehearted support of all of the broadcasters in the country and from the wider Irish television industry. 2020 was an extraordinary year, but the TV community was able to adapt and excel despite the logistical, economic and the very human challenges it faced.
“We all wanted to come together to recognise some of those achievements, to celebrate the creative excellence that Irish audiences have enjoyed in this exceptional year, and to say ‘Thanks’ for sharing your talents with us.
“Our thanks to Muireann O’Connell who has kindly agreed to present the inaugural RTS Ireland Television Awards programme next week.
“We are very gratified to have had such a tremendous response to our invitation to submit entries from so many top-class Irish television production companies. Thanks also to our hardworking panel of Irish and international judges, to our very generous broadcasters and sponsors, especially Virgin Media Television who are hosting our inaugural awards this year.
“We wish all the short-listed nominees the very best of luck ahead of the announcement of winners in each category next Tuesday night”
The RTS Programme Awards are among the international gold standard awards for the TV industry and represent an important showcase for the extraordinary talent evident across the television industry in this part of the world. This is the latest initiative of the Republic of Ireland Centre of Royal Television Society which has been operating since 1996. RTS Ireland organises a range of other events and awards every year including the awards ceremony for student productions in the categories of Drama, Short Form, Comedy, Animation, Factual and Craft Skills.