The Smedias take place on Wednesday, April 10, at The Mansion House in Dublin.
University of Limerick Journalism students are well represented amongst the nominations for this year’s National Student Media Awards – better known as the Smedias.
The 16 separate UL Smedias nominations showcase the incredible talent of these young journalists, with their hard work and dedication earning them recognition in highly competitive categories.
Among the nominees, the 2023/2024 Limerick Voice team has been nominated for Newspaper of the Year, Website of the Year, and Layout and Design of the Year for our recently launched 48-page newspaper and ongoing digital site.
Limerick Voice Managing Editor and fourth year journalism student, Molly Cantwell, has been nominated in the highly competitive Journalist of the Year – National Media category, as well as for the European Commission Award for Journalism Relating to EU Affairs, SFI Journalism relating to Science & Technology, Virgin Media Belonging Award, and Features Writer of the Year – Arts & Pop Culture categories. Cantwell is also nominated for Radio Production of the Year – News & Current Affairs alongside her team-mates Rachel Kelly, Conon MacLeod and Oisín Nolan for their work as part of a live radio day earlier this year.
Fourth year journalism student Gemma Good has been nominated in the prestigious Journalism Relating to Health and Features Writer of the Year – News & Current Affairs categories.
Limerick Voice’s Content Creation Manager, Daniel Ryan, has been nominated for the Virgin Media Digital Content Creator Award for work on the Limerick Voice social media platforms. This category also sees Anna Powell, a third year UL Journalism student, nominated. Powell is also in the running for the Journalism Relating to Travel award.
In the EPA Award for Journalism Relating to the Environment category, second year journalism student, Abigail Hayden, is nominated.
Finally, UL Journalism graduate and Limerick Voice former social media editor, Aishlín Hennigan, is nominated in the TV Production of the Year category.
Speaking of the extraordinary number of UL Journalism nominations at the 2024 Smedias, Limerick Voice Managing Editor, Molly Cantwell, said: “I am over the moon to see so many nominations for the wonderfully talented UL Journalism students and graduates.
“We have worked exceptionally hard on Limerick Voice since September, and since the passing of our beloved Editor-In-Chief, Joe Drennan, we have done everything to make him proud. I know these nominations, especially the accolades for the Limerick Voice newspaper and website, would make him exceptionally proud.
“Personally, I am so honoured to be nominated across a range of category for work done on a national and a student publication level. The foundations of journalism taught at UL are exceptional, and we truly are lucky to have such wonderful, encouraging lecturers and staff supporting us every step of the way.
“We at Limerick Voice are so excited to be attending the awards next week as a team, and taking a well deserved break from our studies as we head towards the end of our final semester.”
Adding to this, Digital Editor, Joe Costigan, said: “It means a lot to all of the Limerick Voice team to have received so many nominations at this year’s Smedias. It was an incredibly difficult year for all of us but we feel as though we really rallied together and have done brilliant work across so many different areas and platforms. It’s great to see this work be recognised on a national level.
“Our goal, especially with our newspaper, was to make Joe Drennan proud and we really hope and feel that we’ve done so. They say self praise is no praise but I’m extremely proud of what we have achieved as a team.”
Full list of UL nominees:
Newspaper of the Year: Limerick Voice
Website of the Year: Limerick Voice
Layout and Design of the Year: Limerick Voice
Journalist of the Year – National Media: Molly Cantwell
Features Writer of the Year – Arts & Pop Culture: Molly Cantwell
European Commission Award Journalism Relating to EU Affairs: Molly Cantwell
SFI Journalism relating to Science & Technology: Molly Cantwell
Virgin Media Belonging Award: Molly Cantwell
Radio Production of the Year – News & Current Affairs: Molly Cantwell, Rachel Kelly, Conon MacLeod, Oisín Nolan
Features Writer of the Year – News & Current Affairs: Gemma Good
Journalism Relating to Health: Gemma Good
Virgin Media Digital Content Creator Award: Daniel Ryan; Anna Powell
Journalism Relating to Travel: Anna Powell
EPA Award Journalism Relating to the Environment: Abigail Hayden
TV Production of the Year: Aishlín Hennigan
