In the hushed moment before the announcement of the 2013 Sportswomen of the Year hung the realisation that any one of the nominees could actually win the award outright. Then came the realisation that Fiona Coghlan was a truly worthy winner.
Still, in the words of Irish Times editor Kevin O'Sullivan, it must have been one of the most difficult calls in the 10 years of celebrating women's achievement in sport.
Coghlan had to beat off two European champions and a couple of the most successful women’s footballers of all time, just for starters, but in the end there was something undeniably groundbreaking about her captaining the Irish women’s rugby team to a first ever Grand Slam.
“In a sport that has been dominated by men for too long, this was a milestone – the manner of the win was inspiring,” said O’Sullivan. “The freezing and wet afternoon in Milan last March, when they sealed the championship, was one of the highlights of my sporting year. Most of us could only sit in awe in the comfort of our own homes and marvel at the bravery and resilience of a squad of women who have to put up with conditions that many male teams wouldn’t put up with.”
O’Sullivan also paid tribute to each of the monthly award winners. “For now all I can do is salute these outstanding winners, but also thank them for the sublime sporting moments they gave us and express my gratitude to their partners, parents and friends for encouraging them to reach new heights.”
'Best of the best'
This was echoed by Irish Times sports editor Malachy Logan, who, before announcing the outright winner, described all the nominees as "the best of the best, a real expression of just how talented our sportswomen are and how far women's sport has come". "Even if we in the media are still too slow to give it a higher profile," he added.
“Over the 10 years of these awards, I have been struck by one particular thing, how unassuming the winners have been, whether Olympic champions or monthly winners.
“They don’t carry the surly baggage of their male counterparts and what a refreshing change that is,” he said.
Logan pointed towards a particular source of inspiration for women in sport – the presence of Joanne O’Riordan, a teenager who has battled a severe disability with an attitude “that would [put] everyone here to shame”. He then used Ms O’Riordan’s words: “if we have such a big problem about female role models such as Rihanna and Miley Cyrus, why don’t we introduce our daughters to the world of sport? Women who our parents can feel comfortable with us looking up to?”
Also acknowledging each of the monthly award winners was Kieran Mulvey, chairman of the Irish Sports Council, co-sponsors of the awards along with The Irish Times.
Representatives from each of the nominated sports were also present, with other esteemed guests including Olympic champion Ronnie Delany, and Olympic silver medallist John Treacy, now chief executive of the Irish Sports Council.
Lifetime achievement
The entire gathering was then treated to another truly original inspirations for Irish women in sport, when former rally driver Rosemary Smith was handed the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1964, Smith took the ladies prize on the Circuit of Ireland Rally driving. A year later, in 1965, she won the Tulip Rally outright, and was also the outright winner of the Cork 20 Rally in 1969. Indeed 76-year-old Smith accepted her award with more than a few words of advice for the rising women's stars of the future.
“Of course you need talent, and you need determination, to succeed in sport,” said Smith. “But this idea that you don’t have to win all the time, and so on. You’re all going out to win. I went out to win. I loved the sport, loved doing what I did, but I also went out to win. I used to get given out to for that, you’re not meant to say that . . . ”
Smith is still giving driving lessons, aimed at teenagers who are still too young to drive on public roads. By coincidence, one of her former pupils was Aoife Clarke, the joint monthly winner for October.
At the ceremony, special thanks was also paid to Sarah Greene and Katy Moloney of The Irish Times promotions, two driving forces behind organising the event. The monthly winners and the overall award is decided by a three-person panel of Mary Hannigan (Irish Times), Greg Allen (RTÉ Radio) and Lindie Naughton (Evening Herald).
