IFTA Gala Television Awards Nominees announced

This year will see the nominees competing for awards across 23 categories from entertainment and soap operas to factual, and current affairs programmes.

Comedian Tommy Tiernan has secured nominations in two categories, the first of which in Male Performance in a Soap or Comedy for his role in Derry Girls along with the lovable Chris Wally in the smash hit comedy The Young Offenders and Chris Newman for his portrayal as detective Rory Walsh in TV3’s soap Red Rock.

Comedy is shaping up to be one of the most hotly contested categories this year with massive Irish shows gracing our screens this year including Brigette and Eamon and the brilliant Mrs Brown’s Boys alongside Derry Girls and The Young Offenders both of which boast a fantastic young cast.

This year there was certainly no shortage of talent in the Female Performance category as Cathy Belton has scooped up a nomination for her role as the matriarch in Red Rock. Meanwhile comedy mums Sharon Horgan and Hilary Rose received nominations for their comedic stints in Channel 4’s catastrophe along with Seana Kerslake for Can’t Cope Won’t Cope and Saoirse Monica Jackson for her performance as Erin in Derry Girls.

Tiernan’s second nomination lies in the entertainment category for his chat show with a difference The Tommy Tiernan Show, alongside RTÉ’s flagship Sunday evening show Dancing with the Stars and last year’s winner Brendan O’Connor’s Cutting Edge.

A notable nominee for Documentary Series is Cardboard Gangsters star John Connors for his ground-breaking show John Connors: The Travellers. This year’s reality category sees tough competition between shows that had the nation glued to the couch like Gogglebox and First Dates Ireland.

The IFTA will announce the new host and full details of the ceremony on Friday May 11th.

See the full list of nominees below.

NOMINEES FOR BEST COMEDY: @BridgetandEamon #DerryGirls@MrsBrownsBoys @YoungOffenders_ #IFTAGala18 pic.twitter.com/5JFq6SLdWG

— Irish FilmTV Academy (@IFTA) May 9, 2018

ENTERTAINMENT
Brendan O'Connor's Cutting Edge (Mind the Gap)
Dancing with the Stars (ShinaWil)
Ireland's Got Talent (Kite Entertainment)
The Tommy Tiernan Show (Power Pictures)

COMEDY
Bridget & Eamon (Pureclass Productions/RTE)
Derry Girls (Hat Trick / Channel 4)
Mrs Brown's Boys (BOC Productions / BBC/RTE)
The Young Offenders (Vico Films/ BBC3/RTE)

FACTUAL
Creedon's Shannon (RTE Cork)
Hector Central (Good Company Productions/TV4)
Room to Improve (Coco Television)
Schizophrenia: The Voices in My Head (Firebrand Productions)

DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Éire Fhiáin An Cósta Thiar (Crossing the Line / TG4)
John Connors: The Travellers (Scratch Films / RTE)
Keeping Ireland Alive - The Health Service In a Day (IndiePics / RTE)
The Zoo TV Series (Moondance / RTE)

DOCUMENTARY SINGLE
Autism and Me (Firebrand / RTE)
The Great Irish Sell-Off (RTÉ Factual)
Pearl Harbor - The Heroes Who Fought Back (360 Productions/Discovery)
Shaw: My Astonishing Self (Animo TV / RTE)

We Need to Talk about Dad (Waka TV/RTE)

SOAP / CONTINUING DRAMA
Fair City (RTE)
Red Rock (TV3)
Ros na Rún (TG4)

FEMALE PERFORMANCE
Cathy Belton - Red Rock (TV3)
Sharon Horgan – Catastrophe ((Merman & Avalon TV / Channel 4))
Seana Kerslake – Can’t Cope Won’t Cope (Deadpan Productions / RTE)
Saoirse-Monica Jackson – Derry Girls (Hat Trick/Channel 4)
Hilary Rose – Young Offenders (Vico Films / BBC3/RTE)

MALE PERFORMANCE
Sean McGinley, Fir Bolg (Dearg Films / TG4)
Chris Newman, Red Rock (TV3)
Brendan O’Carroll, Mrs Brown’s Boys (BOC Productions for BBC/RTE)
Tommy Tiernan, Derry Girls (Hat Trick / Channel 4)
Chris Walley, The Young Offenders (Vico Films/ BBC3/RTE)

LIVE EVENT
Big Week on the Farm (IndiePics/RTE)
Storm Ophelia: A 3 News Special (TV3)
TG4XX BEO (Gifted Empire/TG4)
Weather Live (Loosehorse/RTE)

REALITY & CONSTRUCTED REALITY
First Dates Ireland (Coco TV / RTE)
Francis Brennan's Grand Vietnamese Tour (Waddell Media / RTE)
Gogglebox Ireland (Kite Entertainment / TV3)
Painting the Nation (IndiePics / RTE)

SPECIALIST FACTUAL
Aerial Ireland (Tile Films / Smithsonian)
Fairytale of New York (RTE)
Portrait of a Gallery (Wildfire Productions / RTE)
Wild Ireland - The Edge of the World (Crossing the Line / RTE/BBC)

SPORTS
Anthony Foley: Munsterman (Wildfire Productions / RTE)
Crash and Burn (DotTV/TG4)
Giles (Loosehorse/RTE)
Pull Like A Dog (Wildfire/RTE)

CURRENT AFFAIRS
BBC NI Spotlight - The Nama Tapes: Corruption
Claire Byrne Live (RTE)
RTE Investigates - Nightmare to Let
The Tonight Show (TV3)

NEWS
BBC Newsline
Brexit Gets Triggered: A 3 News Special
RTE Six One News

CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE’S - LIVE ACTION
Bernard Dunne's Mythical Heroes (Firebrand/RTE)
Drop Dead Weird (Telegael/RTE)
Is Eolaí Mé (Meangadh Fíbín TG4)
Lurgan 2K17 (Iris Productions /TG4)

ANIMATION –CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE
The Day Henry Met (Wigglywoo)
Lily’s Driftwood Bay (Sixteen South)
Little Roy (Jam Media)
Vampirina (Brown Bag)

IRISH LANGUAGE
Fir Bolg (Dearg Films / TG4)
Frank O’Connor Idi Dhá Shruth (Animo TV/TG4)
Rocky Ros Muc (Below the Radar)
Ros na Run (EO Teilifis/Tyrone Productions / TG4)

DIRECTOR COMEDY/SOAP
Cathy Brady, Can't Cope Won't Cope (Deadpan Productions /RTE)
Jason Butler, Bridget and Eamon (Pureclass Productions / RTE)
Diarmuid Goggins, Red Rock (TV3)
Peter Foott, The Young Offenders (Vico Films / BBC3/RTE)

WRITER COMEDY/SOAP
Sharon Horgan, Catastrophe (Merman & Avalon TV / Channel 4)
Stephanie Preissner, Can't Cope Won't Cope (Deadpan Productions /RTE)
Lisa McGee, Derry Girls (Hat Trick/Channel 4)
Peter Foott, The Young Offenders (Vico Films / BBC3/RTE)

DIRECTOR TELEVISION
Kim Bartley, Schizophrenia: The Voices in My Head (Frontline Films/RTE)
Gerry Hoban Shaw, My Astonishing Self (Animo TV/RTE)
Garry Keane, Deafening (Mind the Gap / RTE)
Aoife Kelleher, We Need to Talk About Dad (Waka TV / RTE)

CAMERA TELEVISION
Patrick Jordan, The Young Offenders (Vico Films / BBC3/RTE)
Ciaran Tanham, Red Rock (TV3)
Mick O’Rourke, Sacred Sites (Tile Films / Smithsonian Channel)
Domenico Pontillo, Wild Ireland - the Edge of the World (Crossing the Line / RTE/BBC)

EDITING TELEVISION
Iseult Howlett, Shaw My Astonishing Self (Animo TV / RTE)
John Murphy, Giles (Loosehorse/RTE)
Jamie Fitzpatrick, Wild Ireland - the Edge of the World (Crossing the Line / RTE/BBC)
Bob Caldwell, Pearl Harbor: The Heroes Who Fought Back (360 Productions / Discovery)

SOUND TELEVISION
Daniel Crowley, Jordan Mullen & Fionan Higgins - The Young Offenders
Mick Cassidy & Killian Fitzgerald for Sacred Sites
Paddy O’Hanlon, Garret Farrell & Michelee Fingleton Can’t Cope Won’t Cope
Fiachra O’Hanlon and Killian Fitzgerald Pearl Harbour The Heroes who Fought Back (360 Productions / Discovery)