News

DCU student wins PPI award 2010 - Best Irish Documentary

06 December 2010

Christopher Cleary, a third year student on the BA in Communications degree at DCU, has won the PPI award for Best Irish Documentary. The announcement was made at an event in Lyrath Estate Hotel, Kilkenny in October. At 24, Christopher is the youngest winner of the award.

Ray d'Arcy, who attended the event, said that Chris now had a golden ticket into a world of creativity and he should be extremely proud of himself.

Christopher won the PPI award for his radio documentary '8 Years On' which documents the life of his own mother, Lynda Barton, who overcame a 20-year heroin addiction and became a fully-qualified counsellor. Christopher recounts his upbringing in Dublin, tracing his relationship with his mother during her years of deteriorating health, and subsequently during her recuperation from the ravages of addiction. The title of the documentary, ‘Eight Years On’ documents Lynda’s road to recovery and celebrates her eighth anniversary free from drugs.

Christopher has received numerous honours for his documentary, including the Ake Blomstrom scholarship and a Bronze medal in the Human Relations category of the World Radio Awards, held in New York in September 2010. Over 2000 programs from some of the world's largest networks were entered for this competition, including BBC, RTE, NPR, CBC and ABC, and is one of the most prestigious in the world of radio broadcasting.

Christopher hopes to spend the month of June 2011 in New York, to record a four part series on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The series will focus on the Irish lives in America that have been affected by the tragedy.

He is currently involved in his new production named "Christmas Through the Cultures" - "A programme examining the different elements of Christmas celebrations through the many foreign cultures settled in Ireland". This will be broadcast on Christmas Day at 4pm on RTE Radio 1.