Edgecast Media sponsor The Irish Blog Awards

Last year’s inaugural Irish Blog Awards was a warm and wonderful occasion.  Not only were past achievements acknowledged and recognised, but I firmly believe the occasion provided an important impetus and contributed to the growth and development of Irish blogs in the 12 months that have followed.

My wife Margaret and I had a very enjoyable time, and it was great to be among the winners on the day.  An tImeall won the award for the Best Use of The Irish Language in a Blog.

This year I’m delighted to announce that Edgecast Media is sponsoring that same category.  I’m happy to support the award which recognised my efforts in 2006.  In fact it was one of the things which encouraged me and set me on the path to the success which followed later in the year.

Blogging is a social activity which has the power to draw hundreds of people together on a Saturday in Dublin.  But each and every blog starts with a personal passion.  In my case it was the Irish language, and the desire for more opportunities to use it on a daily basis.

The Irish language is gaining in strength and status in recent years and, in the online world, a growing gaelic community is gaining in the confidence to contribute to the production of their own media.

Nominations close tomorrow.  Later, public balloting will decide shortlists for each category.

In my acceptance speech last year, I expressed the hope that Irish language blogs would feature in the other categories as well.  So, do keep that in mind as you nominate this year.  For example, HilaryNY could be nominated for Best Personal Blog or An Spailpín Fánach for Best Sports Blog.  And while, as sponsor, I am ineligible for the Irish category this year, I’d be delighted to be nominated as Best Podcaster – although I expect stiff competition for this category!

If you need help finding Irish language blogs, visit kinja.com/user/gaeilge.  I plan to get an OPML list up shortly as well.

Nascanna breise:

• Annette‘s another former winner who’s giving it back this year!

From An tImeall:

• Irish Blog Awards are front page news on Lá Nua.
• My column this week from Lá Nua.

Explore posts in the same categories: blogging, irish, irishblogawards, irishblogs, language