THE IRISH Timesfinance correspondent Simon Carswell is among the nominees for journalist of the year in the first annual National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI) awards, which take place next week.
He has been nominated for a report he wrote last year about how the bank guarantee came into place, another report about a €3 million pay-off to former AIB managing director Colm Doherty and an exclusive interview he gained with former Anglo-Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm.
Also nominated for journalist of the year is the documentary maker, writer and Irish Timescolumnist Mary Raftery, who for more than 15 years has investigated the Catholic Church's shortcomings on child protection.
Also from The Irish Times, Miriam Lord has been nominated as political journalist of the year while Rosita Boland and Kathy Sheridan are both nominated in the feature writing category.
Paul Howard gets a nomination in the columnist/commentator of the year category for his popular Ross O'Carroll-Kelly column which runs in the Irish Timesmagazine every Saturday.
Cystic Fibrosis campaigner Orla Tinsley, whose recent autobiography Salty Baby has become a bestseller, is nominated for young journalist of the year for her work in The Irish Times.
Both The Irish Timesliterary correspondent Eileen Battersby and its theatre critic Peter Crawley have been nominated in the critic of the year category. In total, 48 contenders have been nominated in 13 categories for the awards, which take place in Dublin on Thursday afternoon in the Four Seasons Hotel in Ballsbridge.
The special guest will be former editor of the IndependentSimon Kelner, while Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte will also attend.
The full list of nominees are:
NNI National Journalist of the Year: Noel Baker, Irish Examiner; Simon Carswell, The Irish Times; Irish IndependentWikileaks team; Michael O'Farrell, I rish Mail on Sunday; Jason O'Toole, Irish Daily Mail; Mary Raftery, The Irish Times.
NNI Regional Journalist of the Year:Colette Browne, Wexford Echo; Alison Comyn, Drogheda Independent; Kieran Dineen, Evening Echo; Maria Pepper, Wexford People.
NNI Feature Writer of the Year:Rosita Boland, The Irish Times; David Diebold, Evening Herald; Patrice Harrington, Irish Daily Mail; Donal MacIntyre, Sunday World; Justine McCarthy, Sunday Times; Kathy Sheridan, The Irish Times.
NNI Columnist/Commentator of the Year:Martina Devlin, Irish Independent; Paul Drury, Irish Daily Mail;Paul Howard, The Irish Times;Declan Lynch, Sunday Independent.
NNI Critic of the Year:Eileen Battersby, The Irish Times; Peter Crawley, The Irish Times; Liam Fay, Sunday Times;Patrick Freyne, Evening Herald/Sunday Tribune.
NNI Scoop of the Year: Jim Gallagher, Sunday World; Rachel Kane, Irish Daily Star; Senan Molony, Irish Daily Mail;Nicola Tallant, Sunday World.
NNI Young Journalist of the Year: Fiach Kelly, Irish Independent;Niall O'Connor, Evening Herald; Eithne Shortall, Sunday Times; Orla Tinsley, The Irish Times.
NNI Political Journalist of the Year: Niamh Connolly, Sunday Business Post; Shaun Connolly, Irish Examiner; Miriam Lord, The Irish Times; Anne Marie Walsh, Irish Independent.
NNI Business and Economics Journalist of the Year:Kathleen Barrington, Sunday Business Post; Richard Curran, Sunday Business Post;Tom Lyons and Brian Carey, Sunday Times; Dan White, Evening Herald.
NNI Sports Journalist of the Year: Miguel Delaney, Sunday Tribune; Neil Francis, Evening Herald; Kieran Shannon, Irish Examiner/Sunday Tribune; Eamonn Sweeney, Sunday Independent.
NNI Showbiz Story of the Year:Samuel Hamilton, Irish Daily Mirror;Eugene Masterson, Sunday World; Gary Meneely, Irish Sun; Jennifer O'Brien, Irish Sun.
