Mark Paul, London Correspondent of The Irish Times, won business news story of the year on Monday at the annual UCD Smurfit School Business Journalist Awards in the Westbury Hotel in Dublin.
He won the award for a series of articles he wrote late last year concerning the finances of bankrupt Irish property tycoon Derek Quinlan, notably how Mr Quinlan gave an undeclared €2.5 million tax refund to his wife.
Details of the transfer were included in a trove of documents obtained by The Irish Times from UK records in a long-running investigation into Mr Quinlan’s finances.
Now in its 18th year, the Smurfit journalism awards are sponsored by Bank of Ireland and covered seven categories.
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Eoin Burke-Kennedy, Ciara O’Brien and Hugh Dooley of The Irish Times were also shortlisted for awards.
Other award winners were Conor O’Carroll from the Journal Investigates, Adrian Weckler of the Irish Independent, Fearghal O’Connor from the Sunday Independent, and Kathleen Gallagher and Emma Hanrahan of the Business Post. The podcast award went to an audio story by the Irish Independent.
Separately, the outstanding achievement award was presented to veteran author, journalist and broadcaster Sam Smyth, who had a long and distinguished career with Independent Newspapers and Today FM. He currently contributes to the Currency, a specialist online publisher.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Smyth, who was born in Belfast, recounted how he could have made London his home and once had an offer to settle in New York but chose to come to Dublin instead.
“I cannot imagine living anywhere else but in Dublin. I truly love Dublin,” he said.
He closed his speech with these words of advice for young journalists. “Journalism is not a profession, it’s a craft. One best learned over time, telling the truth. It is also capable of much good and even some great things.”
The judging panel for the awards was chaired by former Garda commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan. The winners of each category were awarded a €1,000 prize.
Professor Federica Pazzaglia, director of UCD Smurfit School and associate dean of UCD College of Business, said: “The work of Ireland’s business journalists deepens understanding of the issues shaping our economy and society, bringing clarity, analysis and accountability at moments that matter most.”
