GALA TV Presenter of the Year Award

16th May 2018

IFTA and Gala Retail have today announced the Nominees for the Gala TV Presenter of the Year Award. This prestigious Award will recognise the skill, professionalism, talent and dedication of Ireland’s leading broadcasters who are currently working across Irish screens every week.

This is a People’s Choice award and is the only award voted for by the general public within the annual IFTA Gala Television awards.

The 10 Nominees have been shortlisted by a panel of industry experts, and the winner will be decided through an online voting platform over the coming weeks.

The ten Broadcasters nominated for this Award are Miriam O’Callaghan, the face of RTE’s Current Affairs, alongside Ryan Tubridy, presenter of the world's longest running chat show The Late Late Show; BBC’s Graham Norton, whose Friday night entertainment show attracts the biggest stars in the world; Karen Koster the lead presenter on TV3’s flagship nightly entertainment show Xposé; Elaine Crowley who fronts her own daytime studio show Elaine on TV3, Hector Ó hEochagáin, TG4’s widely recognised Gaelgoir and explorer; Christine Lampard (Bleakley), the presenter of BBC’s daily The One Show, RTÉ’s popular Sports presenter Marty Morrissey who wowed the nation with his dancing skills this year on DWTS; late night studio discussion show and anchor for TV3’s major sports coverage Matt Cooper, and RTÉ’s anchor on the national broadcaster’s main event news programme Sharon Ní Bheoláin.

Online voting will go live at 12 noon Wednesday 16th May on www.Gala.ie, where the public can cast their vote for who they think deserves to be the Gala TV Presenter of the Year.

Commenting on the launch of the Gala TV Presenter of the Year Award, IFTA CEO Áine Moriarty said: “This Award recognises the skill and talent of Irish TV professionals, who reach into the hearts and minds of Irish audiences day in day out, keeping them informed and engaged across all aspects of society. Whether they are reporting, educating, investigating or entertaining, these household names are committed and passionate about their work and their presenting roles on screen. Thanks also to Gala Retail for its continued support of the industry and the work across 23 award categories at the IFTA Gala Television Awards.”

Tony Cluskey, Marketing Manager at Gala Retail adds: “As the main sponsor of the IFTA Gala TV Awards, we are delighted to support the Gala TV Presenter of the Year award which recognises the wealth of gifted Irish television presenters in the broadcasting arena. Huge congratulations to all of the nominees who are each talented, brilliant and true professionals in their field.
“As the Gala TV Presenter of the Year is the only award this year to be voted for by the public, it’s set to be one of the most hotly contested awards on the night.”

The Award will be presented at this year’s annual IFTA Gala Television Awards Ceremony which takes place on Thursday 31st May at the RDS Concert Hall.

The full line-up of Nominees across 23 Television categories was announced on Wednesday 9th May, across all genres including Entertainment, Comedy, Documentary, Current Affairs, News and Childrens among others.

Legendary Broadcaster Shay Healy will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Ceremony.

To vote for your Gala TV Presenter of the Year and to be in with a chance of winning great prizes, visit www.Gala.ie and vote online for free. For your chance to win your own VIP experience at the 2018 IFTA Gala TV Awards, visit facebook.com/GalaRetail. You can follow the IFTA Gala Television Awards conversation online by following #IFTAGala18.

IFTA will announce further details about the ceremony on Friday 18th May, along with details of the broadcast highlights from the ceremony

The 10 Gala TV Presenter of the Year Nominees are:

Christine Lampard

Previously crowned as the ‘Ultimate TV Presenter,’ at the Cosmopolitan Woman of the Year awards, Christine Lampard (Bleakley) has been a frequent face on Ireland and UK screens. Starting off her career with BBC Northern Ireland on such programmes as Let Me Entertain You, First Stop and Sky High. Most recently, Christine was praised for her stand in appearance as host on the Lorraine show, but was back in her permanent seat on Loose Woman. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Christine raised over £1.5 million after she water-skied across the English channel in 2010 for Sport Relief.
INSTAGRAM: @christinelampard TWITTER: @clbleakley

Elaine Crowley

Cork born, Elaine Crowley is an Irish journalist, presenter and newsreader, best known for presenting TV3’s Midday from 2010 to 2016. An interest in media saw Elaine make the move to Dublin to study in DIT. Elaine joined TV3 in 2000, starting off as a newsreader and a presenter on morning talk show Ireland AM. She is a self professed ‘newshound at heart’ and the producer and host likes to keep a firm foot in the Newsroom door. Elaine recently appeared on RTÉ’s Celebrity Operation Transformation. Elaine currently presents her own daytime talk show Elaine on TV3.
TWITTER:@elainecrowley / @tv3elaine INSTAGRAM: @elainecrowleytv

Graham Norton

A Dublin-born Cork-raised native, Graham is one of the best-known faces of Irish and British Television. His skills as a presenter and comedian saw him rise through the ranks and break into the UK market with ease. In 1996 we saw him embrace his comedic talent alongside Dermot Morgan and Ardal O Hanlon on the Channel 4 hit show, Father Ted. The Graham Norton Show has featured a number of celebrities including Bono, Will Smith and Meryl Streep. The winner of numerous BAFTA awards and indeed a host of the BAFTA TV Awards several times, Hot Press has described Graham as “The 21st century’s answer to Terry Wogan”.
TWITTER: @grahnort INSTAGRAM: @grahnort

Hector Ó hEochagáin

Navan man Hector Ó hEochagáin. After working as a radio broadcaster for many years, he first came to the attention of Irish viewers with his travelogue programme Amú on TG4. After a few series’ with TG4, he created and hosted two primetime series Only Fools Buy Horses, and Hanging with Hector. One of the more memorable episodes featured Ó hEochagain with then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. In January 2013 he presented a new four-part series called Hector Goes on RTÉOne. The series reached over 1.8 million viewers. Ó hEochagain, once again set off travelling in his show Hector Central which aired in 2016.
TWITTER: @hectorirl

Karen Koster

Karen Koster, best known for her role as Xpose’s lead presenter, has had a long-standing career with TV3 since 2004. She is the presenter on TV3’s Xposé. In 2001, she was runner-up in RTÉ’s The Selection Box. Starting off as a weather presenter on Ireland AM, Karen was appointed as one of Xpose’s presenters in April 2007. Over the last 10 years, Karen has interviewed the world’s leading designers, actors and entertainers, including Victoria Beckham, Saoirse Ronan and Sarah Jessica Parker. In her TV3 documentary Mammy Guilt, Karen explores the realities of being a working mother in Ireland. The documentary is part of the True Life documentary strand which aired in January 2017 to rave reviews.
TWITTER: @karenkoster INSTAGRAM: @karenkostertv

Marty Morrissey

Mallow-born Morrissey, was born in Cork but was raised in the Bronx until he was 10. A keen sporting enthusiast, Marty spent his earlier years as a coach and sports player. It was not until 1988 that he entered the world of broadcasting joining the local TV channel “Cork Multi-Channel”. Marty left Cork in 1994, to join RTÉ’s TV Sports Department and has remained one of their most notable sports presenter ever since. Morrissey has commentated on many sporting events but his bailiwick is Gaelic games. He also has a job as sports reporter and reader on RTÉ News and is known for Saturday Sport show The Marty Squad on RTÉ Radio 1. Earlier in 2018 Marty took to the dancefloor, competing in Ireland’s Dancing with the Stars.
TWITTER: @MartyM_RTE

Matt Cooper

Known as the most influential journalist on Twitter, Matt Cooper is an Irish journalist, author, television presenter and radio presenter of The Last Word on Today FM. He is also former editor of the Sunday Tribune. Matt is a frequent host of live UEFA Champions League coverage on TV3. He has also hosted live rugby and GAA matches on the same channel. To coincide with the 100 year anniversary of Battle of the Somme in July 2016, Cooper narrated the RTE documentary Heroes Of The Somme, which uncovered the stories of some of the men that won The Victoria Cross fighting there. Since September 2017, Cooper has co-hosted The Tonight Show on TV3 with Ivan Yates.
TWITTER: @cooper_m

Miriam O'Callaghan

Miriam O’Callaghan is the face of Irish television current affairs in RTÉ. She has presented PrimeTime since 1996, and her own summer Talk show, Saturday Night with Miriam, since 2005. In the summer of 2009, she began a radio show, Miriam Meets…, since replaced by live show Sunday with Miriam. Miriam saw her early broadcasting career start in the UK with a position on BBC’s Newsnight and was then head-hunted by RTÉ and returned to Ireland in 1993 to present Marketplace, an economics and business programme. Currently co presenting PrimeTime; it is the flagship Current Affairs programme of Ireland’s National Broadcaster.
TWITTER: @MiriamOCal

Ryan Tubridy

Ryan Tubridy, nicknamed “Tubs”, is a presenter of live shows on radio and television in Ireland. Tubridy started in broadcasting at the age of 12, reviewing books for the RTÉ 2FM. For five seasons from 2004 until 2009, he presented the Saturday night TV chat show Tubridy Tonight on RTÉ One. He later left RTÉ 2fm for a number of years to present weekday morning radio programme The Tubridy Show on RTÉ Radio 1, but returned to RTÉ 2fm in 2010 ultimately returning to Radio 1 where he presents his current weekday morning radio show. He has also hosted the Rose of Tralee contest on two occasions. Ryan is the host of long-running TV chat programme The Late Late Show.
TWITTER: @RyanTubridyShow INSTAGRAM: instatubridy

Sharon Ní Bheolain Sharon Ní Bheoláin is an Irish journalist, newsreader and presenter with RTÉ, where she has presented many flagship programmes including RTÉ News: One O’Clock and RTÉ News: Six One as well as all other news bulletins on both radio and television. Before joining RTÉ, she worked for the Dublin radio station, ‘Raidió na Life. Ní Bheoláin began her career with RTÉ in 1994, presenting Nuacht RTÉ and in 1997, she became the presenter of News 2. In January 2018 Sharon finished presenting the SIX ONE news as she became the new anchor of RTÉ News: Nine O’Clock and the new face of Crimecall.

About Gala Retail Services

The Gala symbol Group was established in 1998 by a consortium of Irish wholesalers and 2018 marks the Group’s 20th year in business. The Gala Group consists of 220 stores across Ireland, trading under the Gala, Gala express and Your Stop brands. Gala is a fresh and modern convenience brand that puts community at the heart of its business. The locally-owned stores are renowned for their commitment to the local communities in which they operate and are supported nationally by Gala Retail Services.

Gala stores are unique in that they are owned and run by local entrepreneurs who are very much part of their community. Each store is individual, and has been tailored to meet the needs of its customers. This consumer based approach has ensured the brand goes from strength to strength.

In addition to the Group’s headline sponsorship of the IFTA Gala Television Awards, the Gala Group is an official partner of Special Olympics Ireland.

Website: www.Gala.ie (Voting is live 12 noon Wednesday 16th May and closes midnight 28th May 2018).

Facebook : www.facebook.com/GalaRetail
Twitter Handle : @Gala_Retail