UCC students win national student media awards

23 Apr 2024

• Four UCC Bachelor of Arts students will awards at National Student Media Awards.

A weekly Irish language music show and road safety journalism led by University College Cork (UCC) students have been recognised at the National Student Media Awards. The annual awards celebrate excellence in student journalism across Ireland.

UCC radio show CeolMates was awarded the Raidío trí Ghaeilge Award for best radio production through Irish and Chloe Barrett was awarded the RSA Journalism Relating to Road Safety Award.

There were a record 568 entries this year across the 38 categories and they were judged by renowned figures from the industry.

Craic, ceol agus comhrá

CeolMates, Clár radio lán-Ghaeilge, is hosted by BA in Music and Irish students Éabha Breathnach and Meabh Ni Chonaill with Lorraine Ní Chathasaigh, BA Irish and History student. Broadcast live on UCC98.3FM every Wednesday, CeolMates focuses on the latest music and conversation on the stories that matter.

Celebrating their Raidío trí Ghaeilge award, Éabha, Meabh and Lorraine said: "Tá an-athás orainn gur bronnadh an duais seo orainn agus tréaslaímid leis na hiomaitheoirí iontacha eile sa chatagóir. Ár mbuíochas le UCC 98.3FM as an tacaíocht ar fad agus lenar gcáirde agus éisteoirí a bhíonn ag éisteacht linn gach tseachtain. Bíonn gach clár lán le craic, ceol, comhrá agus aíonna an-speisialta, agus is taifead é d'ár gcuid ama sa chéad agus sa dara bliain i UCC, agus ar ár gcairdeas ó bhuaileamar le chéile ar ár gcéad lá anseo ar champas."

"We are delighted to have been awarded this prize and congratulate the other fantastic finalists in the category. Our thanks to UCC 98.3FM for all the support and to our friends and listeners who tune in every week. Each episode is full of craic, ceol, conversation and very special guests, and is a record of our time in first and second year in UCC, and our friendship since we met on our very first day here on campus."

Making Irish roads safer

Chloe Barrett was awarded the Smedia for RSA Journalism Relating to Road Safety. The award recognises the crucial role writers and journalists play in spreading road safety news and the great work that students have undertaken to help make roads across Ireland safer.

Chloe is currently pursuing a Masters in Creative Writing at UCC where she has written for student media in UCC for three years. She is currently the Features Editor of the University Express.

In her winning feature, Chloe explored the top advice on how to safely pass the driving test. Chloe said: “I am a relatively new driver, having been on the roads for only a few years, and I know how hard the whole process to getting your license can be. Mainly, I wanted to highlight this, while hopefully being both supportive and helpful, so I wrote about certain aspects that I have struggled with in the past regarding driving, and how I overcame them.”

“Since my article was published, I have had people contact me saying how useful they have found it, which I am absolutely delighted with!”

Colman Byrne, organiser of National Student Media Awards, said that even just being nominated for a Smedia Award is "a serious advantage from a career point of view.”