Ballina man honoured at Local Media Awards

A retired newspaper editor has made an impassioned appeal for government funding for newspapers.

Ballina native Terry Reilly, who was editor of the Western People from 1976 to 2003, made his comments at the eighth annual Local Ireland Media Awards where he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. The ceremony was held in Bloomfield House Hotel, near Mullingar, last Thursday evening and was hosted by Lyric FM presenter and Eurovision guru Marty Whelan.

Referencing the lack of accountability on social media, Mr Reilly said it was imperative that the Government finds a mechanism to fund local and national newspapers. He described the amount of disinformation on social media platforms as “frightening” and said newspapers were a cornerstone of a functioning democracy.

There were warm tributes to Mr Reilly in recognition of his long and distinguished career in Irish regional journalism with the president of Local Ireland, Dan Linehan, describing the Ballina man as “one of the truly great editors of the modern era”.

Sixteen awards were made on the night, including joint winners for the sponsor’s award for the National Lottery Best Community Story. The Western People was nominated in three categories - Best Columnist (Fr Brendan Hoban and Paul O’Malley), Sports Journalist (Anthony Hennigan) and Best Advertising Campaign (Ballina Community Clean-up).

Dan Linehan said the awards “reflect the professionalism, quality and skillset across the newsrooms of regional newspapers in Ireland who provide the highest quality local news and sports coverage in print and online to our readers”.

Chair of the judges, journalist, author and broadcaster Alison O’Connor said: “This year’s entries show the excellent quality of regional journalism that exists in Ireland.”