The winner has been announced for the journalistic competition run by drinkaware.ie and Hot Press. The winner gets to be part of the Hot Press review team at Electric Picnic this weekend.

And the young writer who has claimed the No. 1 slot in what was a very tightly fought competition is – roll of drums, please... Conor McMahon, from Kilcullen in Co. Kildare.

Conor submitted a superbly evocative review of Fionn Regan's gig in the Pepper Canister Church in Dublin.

"There was a huge entry for the competition," Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said, "and the standard was extremely high. That made the judging process a very difficult one, with a number of other contenders scoring very well. But Conor's review was a very fine example of how to capture the unique flavour of a live gig, in a really succinct and precise way and to give the reader a genuine sense of what it was like to be there."

Conor, who is a student at DIT, and is also a musician, will now join the Hot Press contingent at next weekend's hugely anticipated Electric Picnic.

"It is going to be a brilliant festival," Niall Stokes added, "and Hot Press will be down there with the Hot Press Chat Room so hopefully we'll see all our readers and members of hotpress.com at some stage over the weekend. In the meantime, a big thanks to the thousands who entered. It is a pity that there could only be one winner!"

The competition was run by Hot Press in conjunction with drinkaware.ie.