The Cranberries legend Noel Hogan handed David Balfe, aka For Those I Love, the RTÉ Choice Music Prize for Album of the Year in a moving ceremony last night.

As the winning act, selected by a panel of judges from a shortlist of ten albums, Balfe will receive a prize of €10,000 – which has been provided by The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). Balfe and Hogan's meeting marked a pivotal moment between alternate generations of musicians.

Hot Press Books recently published WHY CAN’T WE? – The Story Of The Cranberries and the band’s iconic frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan (As Told Through The Pages Of Hot Press). This unique book includes a limited edition format signed by band members Noel Hogan, Mike Hogan and Fergal Lawler, and on behalf of Dolores O’Riordan, by her mother Eileen.

Told from an insiders’ perspective, in a powerful ‘as-it-happened’ style, by Hot Press – along with the band and their inner circle – it’s an odds-defying story that brings the music, the characters and the events together brilliantly, in a roller-coaster narrative.

Along the way there were superb solo adventures undertaken by Dolores and side projects involving Noel.

"Stuart Clark wrote the first press release that we ever did, as The Cranberry Saw Us, so it will be great to see his name on what promises to be an absolutely brilliant, blow-by-blow account of the incredible adventure we embarked on, all those years ago," Noel Hogan said. "We’ve always had a fantastic relationship with Hot Press, so I think fans are going to really relish re-living all of the highs, as well as the sadness and the pain, as told through the pages of the magazine.”

The powerful Choice Music Prize ceremony in Vicar Street marked the highly anticipated return of the in-person awards – following a virtual show last year, due to Covid-19 restrictions. Last year's ceremony saw Denise Chaila take home the Album of the Year award, for Go Bravely.

This year's awards show featured performances from a selection of the shortlisted acts, including Soda Blonde, Elaine Mai, For Those I Love, HousePlants, Kojaque, Mick Flannery & Susan O'Neill and Villagers.

For Those I Love's self-titled debut album was by released via September Recordings in March 2021. Every song on the project was written, recorded and mixed by David Balfe in his mother's shed or in his bedroom. Revisit our interview with Balfe here.

Dermot Kennedy's 'Better Days' was also announced as the Choice Music Prize Song Of The Year in a vote by fans.