Irish Times wins out at Digital Media Awards

The Irish Times website won the Best in Media award at the 2010 Digital Media Awards last night, beating Heineken Music, RTE's Morning Ireland and its live news website, RTE News Now.

The site was praised for its broad appeal, its content and its design. Online editor Hugh Linehan said he was "delighted" with the award and said he hoped to continue to build on the popularity of the website.

Other award winners on the night included Muzu.tv for Ultimate Digital Provider, Rabodirect.ie for Best in Financial Services and EDCO Digital for Best in E-Learning. Ronanlyons.com won in the Best in Blogging category, the only category to be publicly nominated.

Heineken Music did not leave empty handed despite losing out in the Best in Media category. The website took home the Best Entertainement Portal award while CustomerMinds.ie, a marketing website, won out in the Best in Innovation category.

Launched in 2003, the Digital Media Awards recognise and reward the most stylish, creative, and pioneering work within the digital media industry in Ireland. There were awards for 21 categories, including viral marketing, web design, financial services, animation, digital advertising, e-business and podcasting.

In attendance was the Minister of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Eamon Ryan, who expressed the government's desire to foster innovation and creativity within Ireland's digital media industry. This follows on from his and the government's commitment in July 2009 to create 30,000 jobs within the industy over the next ten years.

The awards show that, despite the recession, innovation and creativity continue to thrive in Ireland's digital media community. The government's commitment to expand and invest in the industry over the next ten years signify a belief that the industry could become a cornerstone in the development of Ireland's much mooted 'smart' economy.