Mary Raftery Prize 2022 & 2023 Prize Winners Announced
The Mary Raftery Memorial Lecture and Prize Ceremony took place in Seamus Heaney Lecture Theatre in DCU's St Patrick's Campus this week. The inaugural Mary Raftery Memorial Lecture was delivered by Justine McCarthy, Irish Times columnist and author of ‘An Eye on Ireland: A Journey Through Social Change’. At the same ceremony, the 2022 Mary Raftery Prize for social affairs journalism was awarded to: “Redacted Lives” on thejournal.ie by Orla Ryan, Nicky Ryan and Sinead O’Carroll; the 2023 Prize was awarded to “Calling Time: Are Family Visits a Priority for the Prison Service” on noteworthy.ie by Alice Chambers and Maria Delaney.
In assessing the nominated entries the judges – Peter Feeney (Former Press Ombudsman), Collette Bennett (Director of Advocacy, The Wheel), and Hilary McGouran (Head of Mediation, Injuries Resolution Board) – observed that that the quality of the nominations indicate a healthy public appetite for factual and research-based journalism that sheds light on injustice and on the lack of openness, transparency, fairness and equality that often characterises Irish society and its institutions. They noted that the Prize continues to illustrate the commitment of those involved in social affairs journalism and the high level of quality and analytical skill they bring to projects that address social issues affecting society.
The Mary Raftery Prize is awarded annually to an individual or small team responsible for social affairs journalism produced on the island of Ireland in the calendar year preceding the award that, in the view of the judges, combined the rigorous analysis and commitment to social justice that characterised Mary Raftery’s journalism, and resulted in a significant impact on society. The Prize consists of a medal engraved with the winner’s name and an award of €1,000. The Prize is funded by a bequest from the Mary Raftery Journalism Fund and is administered by the School of Communications, Dublin City University which appoints an independent panel of judges composed of experienced and distinguished figures from journalism and civic society.