PPI Radio Awards announced

The 11th annual PPI (Phonographic Performance Ireland) Radio Awards were held in Lyrath Estate Hotel, Kilkenny, last Friday night and there was no doubt about who was the star of the evening.

Following in the prestigious footsteps of the likes of Gay Byrne, Larry Gogan and Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, Mario Rosenstock picked up this year's Outstanding Achievement Award. The impressionist, whose Gift Grub has been an integral comedic part of the Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show for years, has attended each ceremony to date and previously had six awards to his name. You can read his thoughts on receiving the PPI's ultimate accolade, as well as a host of other subjects, in a forthcoming issue of Hot Press.

Another winner on the night was iRadio's Barbara Nic Dhonnacha. She scooped the title of Music Broadcaster Of The Year for her on-air efforts on iRadio 102-104 every weekday evening over the past year. The music aficionado's perennial favorite Philip King won Specialist Muisc Broadcaster Of The Year for his work on RTÉ Radio 1.

Indeed, the nation's most popular station was a big winner on the night, particularly in the Speech Programming and News categories. As a small sample, Miriam Meets… won for Best Speech Driven Magazine Programme, Cathal MacCoille won News Broadcaster Of The Year and Cian McCormack won News Reporter Of The Year.

Getting back to the music, Dermot & Dave brought the award for Best General Music Programme back to 98fm. Their Dublin rivals FM104 won Music Station Of The Year.

Click here for a full list of the winners.