Culture
11 Oct 16

IFTA Gala Television Awards to be broadcast this Sunday

The annual television award show will be broadcast this Sunday on TV3.

Amanda Byram hosted a show which saw leading Irish talent from entertainment, broadcast and television in attendance to celebrate the ceremony.

The main highlights of the show included Pat Kenny receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award with tributes from celebrities including Celine Dion; Red Rock receiving Best Soap category for the second year; and Brendan O'Carroll bagging another award for Best Male Performance for Mrs Brown's Boys.

Comedian Al Porter entertained the packed-to-capacity crowd and took away the Gala TV Rising Star Award for his troubles. Bob Geldof also took to the stage and spoke about his IFTA winning documentary about W.B. Yeats.

The first half of the event saw awards given out for outstanding TV in 23 different categories and saw TV3's Red Rock win big, while the hugely popular Daniel and Majella’s B&B picked up the Best Reality show award. A full list of the IFTA winners can be found below.

A second awards ceremony then took place which honoured television talent and was sponsored by Gala Retail. The man of the night was Pat Kenny who picked up a Lifetime Achievement Award (although sources within entertainment.ie say that the reason his lifetime tribute video with Gay Byrne was never filmed was because Gay had a "ferocious attack of the hiccups". Our thoughts are with him at this time).

Mícheál Ó Meallaigh was awarded with an IFTA for his Outstanding Contribution to the Industry and the Irish Language for his unparalleled achievements as Commissioning Director of TG4 for twenty years. Micheál’s pioneering of fresh ideas and approaches has enabled TG4 to commission new and accessible Irish language content, which is not only beginning to compete with contemporary English drama, but travel to international audiences.

The official title Sponsor of the IFTA Gala Television Awards is Gala Retail.

The Full IFTA Gala TV Awards 2016 Winners List:

MALE PERFORMANCE

Brendan O'Carroll - Mrs Browns Boys

REALITY AND CONSTRUCTED FACTUAL

First Dates Ireland - COCO Television

DOCUMENTARY SINGLE

I Am Immigrant - Motive Television

FEMALE PERFORMANCE

Sharon Horgan – Catastrophe – Avalon

ENTERTAINMENT

Brendan O’Connor’s Cutting Edge – Mind the Gap