The Press Photographers Association of Ireland (PPAI) awards which recognises the best of Irish press held in Croke Park last Friday night.
Last year’s overall Press Photographer of the Year, Gerry Mooney picked up two awards, topping the poll in both the politics and portrait categories.
His “holding the party line” shot of Fine Gael TDs Josepha Madigan, Kate O’Connell, Maria Bailey and Hildegarde Naughton, hand-in-hand as they crossed Kildare Street to Leinster House, caught the eye in the politics section.
Mr Mooney’s colleague at Sunday Independent, Mark Condren came second in the category, for his shot of Leo Varadkar celebrating with supporters on the night he was appointed Taoiseach.
Mr Mooney’s black and white portrait of Katie Taylor’s father, Pete, saw him take home his second prize of the night.
Another Independent News and Media photographer Steve Humphreys was the overall winner in the Daily Life and People section for a poignant photograph of children in Nigeria.
The award-winning image was entitled: “A Future Beyond Boko Haram”.
A top three awards were presented across nine different categories including news, nature, sports action, sports feature, entertainment, reportage and multimedia.
The judging panel was chaired by Dermot O’Shea, with internationally-renowned photographers Tom Stoddart and Eamonn McCabe.
The multimedia award was chosen by RTE journalist Philip Bromwell and cameraman Michael Lee.
President of the PPAI, Robbie Reynolds, said it was an historic year for the association, which was also celebrating its 40th birthday.
“Our awards reward the very best of Irish press photography from our members right around the island of Ireland,” Mr Reynolds said.
“Over the years our members have seen vast changes in the field, from processing to the instant sending of digital imagery – some feats that would have seemed impossible when our association first began.”
The overall Press Photographer of the Year title went to The Irish Times photographer, Cyril Byrne.
The PPAI is set to hold an exhibition of all the award- winning photographs at the RDS tomorrow.
Some 107 prints will be on display at the RDS library for two weeks.
After that they will go on tour and will be displayed at a range of locations across the country.
