Irish tech community celebrates at Web Awards


12 Oct 2009

From the most innovative and most useful websites to the best in sports, entertainment and arts, recognition of Irish web designers, developers and content providers was given Saturday at the Realex Web Awards 2009, organised by Damien Mulley, also behind the long-running Irish Blog Awards.

A distinctly relaxed and laid-back atmosphere complete with cupcakes, foam cut-out Twitter birds, 404 errors, and bags of goodies distributed by host and 2FM radio personality Rick O’Shea provided the backdrop for the second-ever Irish Web Awards held in the Radisson Hotel, Dublin.

Among those in attendance were nominees, sponsors, tech start-ups and many from the Irish technology scene. There were 24 categories with 84 judges from various sectors across the web industry. Siliconrepublic.com took Best Technology Site for the second year running, while the Irish Times took the gong for Best Online Publication for the second year in a row.

Also taking home an award on the night was the IDA Ireland (http://www.idaireland.com/) for Best Government and Council Website. Sponsors included iQ Content, BH Consulting, DoneDeal.ie and Beaut.ie.

Some notable winners: Decisions for Heroes for Most Innovative Website, Boards.ie for Best Discussion Forum, Curious Wines for Best eCommerce Site and RTE scooped two awards: Most Useful Site in Ireland and the overall award for Best Website in Ireland.

A full list of the night’s winners can be found here on the Irish Web Awards 2009 website.

Colm Lyon, founder and CEO of Realex Payments, talked about the Irish technology scene after presenting the overall award for Best Website in Ireland to RTE. He talked about the Internet Growth Alliance of which both himself and Damien Mulley are business advisers to, and talked about the importance of continuing to support Irish businesses with the proper internet access and tools to make them internationally competitive.

By Marie Boran