Justice Media Awards 2026 Shortlist
- Justice Media Awards
The Law Society of Ireland has published the Justice Media Awards 2026 Shortlist.
All entries were assessed against the objectives of the Justice Media Awards, namely published works or broadcasts which:
- Promote the highest standards in legal journalism,
- Foster greater public understanding of the law, the legal system or access to justice issues,
- Inform and educate the public as to the roles in society of the law, the courts, law enforcement agencies, and the legal profession,
- Disclose practices or procedures needing reform to encourage the development and modernisation of Irish laws, courts, and law enforcement agencies, and/or
- Assist the legal profession, the judiciary, and all others involved in the administration of justice in attaining the highest professional standards.
The winners will be announced at the Justice Media Awards event on 11 June 2026.
Experiencing Ireland's criminal justice system
Stephen Breen
The Irish Sun
Landmark case means e-bike users in collisions may be held liable for injuries
Mary Carolan
The Irish Times
Judge laments ‘lack of knowledge’ about sexual consent as man given three-year sentence
Eimear Dodd
CCC Nuacht Teoranta & The Irish Times
Closing the loophole: A family’s fight for justice and a law that will save lives
Nicola Donnelly
Irish Mirror
‘Sometimes it felt like a dream’ – sister relives horror of Siobhán Hynes’ murder as killer makes fresh bid for freedom
Catherine Fegan
Irish Independent
The MEP and Coco’s law
Elaine Loughlin
Irish Examiner
The full story of how the operator of gossip site Tattle Life was unmasked in an Irish court
Aoife Moore & Sinéad O'Carroll
The Journal
Concern over Garda response to domestic violence
Ann Murphy
Irish Examiner
"Between Fear and Love": A teenager's life inside a home torn apart by domestic violence
Alison O'Reilly
Irish Examiner
Irish rugby concussion cases fall by wayside as ex-player Corkery focuses on the UK
Shane Phelan
Irish Independent
Inside the Dublin court dealing with the state's most vulnerable children
Ian Begley
The Sunday Times
The truth about the murder of tragic Emer O’Loughlin
Ali Bracken
Sunday Independent
Justice denied: Inside Ireland’s sexual offence prosecution gap
Julieanne Corr
The Sunday Times
Why child influencers need legal protection in Ireland
Julieanne Corr
The Sunday Times
‘The desire for a baby is greater’– surrogacy business is booming in Ukraine despite bombings
Catherine Fegan
Sunday Independent
Companies ‘acting honestly at risk from new worker status rules’, says Isme
Oisín Gaffey
Business Post
‘They’re terrified’: Wealth managers set up teams to manage €5bn for vulnerable adults
Kathleen Gallagher
Business Post
How the mail uncovered voter fraud
Brian Mahon
Irish Mail on Sunday
Planning and infrastructure legal reforms
Daniel Murray
Business Post
Bullying, its toll on a child, and the difficult road to justice
Wayne O'Connor
The Sunday Independent
Br Aidan Clohessy abuse investigation
Michael O’Farrell
Irish Mail on Sunday
'Being Threatened with Rape or Murder is Not just ‘Part and Parcel’ of my Job' & 'I believe my stalker had a 'rape or kill' list of women in Irish media'
Deirdre Reynolds
Sunday World & Irish Independent
Inside the DPP's office - to prosecute or not, that is the question
Mary Carolan
The Irish Times
Defamation pieces: What happens when name ends up in paper,
Just want to set the Record straight,
Stop thief - words no shopkeeper can say
Bernie English
Limerick Post
How end of Victorian system leaves Ireland’s vulnerable financially exposed
Kathleen Gallagher
Business Post
Downfall: The full story of the 'reprehensible' fraud that brought down DJ Carey
Amy Molloy
Irish Independent
Tax Mirage
Peter O'Dwyer & Killian Woods
Business Post
Interviews with Br Aidan Clohessy survivors
Michael O’Farrell
Irish Mail on Sunday
Inside Ireland's Deportation System
Cormac O'Keeffe
Irish Examiner
Debunked: Enoch Burke was jailed again, but not for 'refusing to endorse transgender ideology'
Shane Raymond
The Journal
‘We were condemned from the altar. I never went back’:
The woman who fought for contraception – and won
Ella Sloane
The Weekend – The Irish Times
'A continuous trauma' - Families of IRA's secretly buried victims plead for their return &
A blackness that lingers: Bloody Sunday's legacy of grief, trauma and memory
James Wilson
Newstalk
PSNI curbs migrant victims’ data sharing with Home Office after ‘institutional racism’ concerns
Luke Butterly
The Detail
Child Benefit Scandal
Luke Butterly & Lisa O'Carroll
The Detail & The Guardian
‘Despite a post-mortem and a grave, the law says my baby didn’t exist’ – Wexford mum launches campaign after crash tragedy
Pádraig Byrne
The Wexford People
Domestic violence and substance abuse ‘an elephant in the room’, says Cork woman recovering from addiction
Amy Campbell
The Echo
The Probation Service: managing the delicate balance between rehabilitation and risk
Richard Canny
Roscommon Herald
What is restorative justice and how does it work within the Irish courts?
Sarah Coleman
Limerick Post
"Lack of speed-limit data from Dublin City Council hampering ‘lifesaving’ technology in cars"
Bartira da Silva Augelli
Dublin Inquirer
New laws on what happens when your name ends up in the paper for the wrong reasons:
Stop thief’: The words no shopkeeper can say: ‘I just want the record set straight’
Bernie English
Limerick Post
Money Mules: Trapped in the Transfer
Gemma Good
The Anglo-Celt
Portlaoise Courthouse crisis detailed in Freedom of Information emails
Eoghan MacConnell
Leinster Express
Elphin father faces fifth Christmas without dad Robert who remains a 'hostage'
Claire McGovern
Roscommon Herald
Behind Closed Doors
Chris McNulty
Donegal Democrat
Man is jailed for sexually assaulting woman in "random and violent" attack
Darragh Murphy
Waterford News & Star
Ask me Anything - Court Reporter
Heather Blackbyrne, Andrea Gilligan, Niamh Hamell, Laura Hannon & Dee King
Lunchtime Live – Newstalk
The use of counselling notes in court cases
Heather Blackbyrne, Andrea Gilligan, Niamh Hamell & Laura Hannon
Lunchtime Live – Newstalk
Inside Oberstown
Josh Crosbie & Rory Walsh
The Hard Shoulder – Newstalk
The Evan Fitzgerald Case: Policing or Entrapment?
Margaret Curley & Justin McCarthy
This Week – RTÉ Radio 1
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Her Life and Legacy
Patrick Geoghegan & Marése O'Sullivan
Talking History – Newstalk
The Justice Indicators - Behind the Numbers
Frank Greaney
The Last Word – Today FM
Human trafficking: the gaps in services and legislation
Una Kelly
Drivetime – RTÉ Radio 1
Merchants Quay Ireland Christmas Party and First anniversary of Injection Centre
Henry McKean
The Moncrieff Show – Newstalk
Inside The Drug Treatment Court
Brian O'Connell
RTÉ Radio 1
The Silent Justice Gap
Michael Staines & Jessica Woodlock
The Pat Kenny Show – Newstalk
Beaten to Death - The Tom Niland case
Niall Delaney
Ocean FM
What happens when you're detected driving under the influence of drink or drugs
Dan Dooner
Let’s Talk – Shannonside Northern Sound FM
Speaking Out
Will Faulkner & Sinéad Hubble
Midlands 103
Listeners legal queries answered
Joe Finnegan & Kevin McDermott
The Joe Finnegan Show – Shannonside Northern Sound FM
Bail review recommendations explained and examined
Joe Finnegan, Kevin McDermott & Eoghan Murphy
The Joe Finnegan Show – Shannonside Northern Sound FM
RingRoaded
Sarah Grealish & John Morley
Galway Talks – Galway Bay FM
Convictions, Support, and Survival: Three Sexual Assault Cases Brought to Justice in Donegal
Greg Hughes
The Greg Hughes Show – Highland Radio
Legal Matters with Seamus Gunn on The Greg Hughes Show
Greg Hughes
The Greg Hughes Show – Highland Radio
No More Secrets
Gerard Kelly
The Late Lunch with Gerry Kelly – LMFM Radio
Turning the Corner on School Punishment Legacy
Tommy Marren & Fiona McGarry
The Tommy Marren Show – Midwest Radio
Succession planning: It starts with making a will
Patricia Messinger & Mairead Twohig
Cork Today – C103
'There it is in black and white'
Patricia Messinger & Mairead Twohig
Cork Today – C103
Unravelling Amy
Nicola Bardon, Stephen Breen, Neil Cotter, Michael Doyle & Damien Lane
Irish Sun
Inside Ireland’s Witness Protection Programme
Shane Beatty, Tom Donnelly & Aaron Harte-Hughes
Newstalk Daily – Newstalk
Lines Of Enquiry - Robert Holohan: Robbed of Tomorrow
Eoin Brennan, Darren Cleary, Siobhán Maguire, John Sweetman & Siobhan Walsh
GoLoud
Lines of Enquiry - Nora Sheehan
Eoin Brennan, Darren Cleary, Siobhán Maguire, John Sweetman & Siobhan Walsh
GoLoud
Bláthnaid Raleigh on the aftermath of a rape trial and the two sides of sport
Gav Cooney, Ronan Early, Niall Kelly, Gareth Lyons, Sinéad O'Carroll & Nicky Ryan
The Journal and The 42
First Conviction
Tim Desmond, David Doran, Pamela Fraher, Philip Gallagher, Aoife Hegarty, Mel Mercier, Ruth Negga, & Liam O'Brien
RTÉ Radio 1
Stolen Sister
Tim Desmond, Nicoline Greer, Shauna McGreevy, Liam O'Brien & Roz Purcell
RTÉ Radio 1
The Indo Daily: ‘One strong punch’ – Trinity law graduate gets six-year sentence for killing Limerick student after Greek trial
Ciaran Dunbar & Mark Tighe
The Indo Daily – The Sunday Independent & The Bel Tel – The Belfast Telegraph
Speaking Out
Will Faulkner & Sinéad Hubble
Midlands Today with Will Faulkner – Midlands 103
RingRoaded
Sarah Grealish & John Morley
Galway Talks – Galway Bay FM
The Fifth Court - Edmund Honohan
Peter Leonard & Mark Tottenham
The Fifth Court Podcast
'Law and Disorder'
Genevieve Brennan & Conor McMorrow
RTÉ Prime Time
Academy House and IPAS: Transparency, Rights, and Community Impact
Emmett Corcoran, Michael Finan & Emma Healy
Media People Ireland Ltd. (Roscommon People)
Inside Oberstown
Josh Crosbie & Rory Walsh
Newstalk
RTÉ Investigates - First Conviction
David Doran, Pamela Fraher, Philip Gallagher & Aoife Hegarty
RTÉ Investigates
MRS ROBINSON
Cormac Hargaden & Aoife Kelleher
RTÉ One
The Trial of Richard Satchwell
Eoin Kelly, Deborah Naylor & David Tiernan
Virgin Media News
Violence in the Schoolyard and No Path to Justice
Hannah Murphy
Virgin Media News
The Dingivan family's quest for justice for Tina
Deborah Naylor
Virgin Media Television
Margaret Loftus – The Long Road to Justice
Miriam O'Callaghan & Tara Peterman
RTÉ Prime Time
The Murder of Kirsty Ward & the Legal Complexities Here & Abroad
Miriam O'Callaghan & Tara Peterman
RTÉ Prime Time
‘We fought hard for this lady. And we still lost her’:
How new mother died after home birth
Shauna Bowers
The Irish Times
The struggle to rein in Ireland's teen offenders:
'These gangs have no fear of recrimination'
Mary Carolan
The Irish Times
The Supreme Court hears Coolglass
Alice Chambers
The Currency
Sentencing ‘The Dodger’ – colour reports from the Central Criminal Court in Dublin as DJ Carey is jailed for fraud
Catherine Fegan
Irish Independent
Reporting on vulnerable children in State care
Fiachra Gallagher
The Irish Times
Gerry Adams vs The BBC - Inside the Courtroom
Patrick O'Donoghue
The Sunday Times
Br Aidan Clohessy Trials
Michael O'Farrell
Irish Daily Mail
Ireland's First ISIS Attack
Cormac O'Keeffe
Irish Examiner
Landmark High Court Challenge Targets “AND " in Redress Law Excluding 34,000 survivors
Alison O'Reilly
Irish Examiner
Feet in the flames: inside story of Flatley’s bruising court battle over ‘Lord of the Dance’ show / Court faces tough task to unravel complex ‘Lord of the Dance’ case
Shane Phelan
Irish Independent
Rogue landlord tried to gag press by using anti-stalking laws
Shane Phelan
Irish Independent
Battle of the Barne
Niall Sargent
The Currency
How did DJ Carey become a fraudster?
Declan Bogue, Lauren Boland, Eimer McAuley & Nicky Ryan
The Explainer – The Journal
Medical Misadventure
John Cooke
Drivetime – RTÉ Radio 1
Tina’s Truth
Barry Cummins, Sallyanne Godson, Sean Higgins & Martin Vale
RTÉ Prime Time
“Our loved ones deserve better, as a society we must do better” - Grieving mother calls for dangerous driving sentences to be increased
Nicole Gernon
Virgin Media News
Enoch Burke jailed (again)
Frank Greaney
The Hard Shoulder – Newstalk
Kneecap in Court
Emily Keegan
Bauer Media Audio Ireland
George Nkencho Inquest
Una Kelly
Drivetime – RTÉ Radio 1
Two brave survivors speak out
Deborah Naylor
Virgin Media Television
Tom Niland - Death of a 'Gentle Giant'
Deborah Naylor & Paul Quinn
Virgin Media News
Inside the Drug Treatment Court
Brian O'Connell
RTÉ Radio 1
Inside the Dublin court dealing with the state's vulnerable children
Ian Begley
The Sunday Times
Stormont officials privately warn of 'permacrisis' of racist unrest
Luke Butterly
The Detail
“The ‘teen’ category was one of the most profitable”
Alice Chambers
The Currency
Over 330% increase in demand for Female Genital Mutilation treatment in Ireland
Patricia Devlin
The Journal Investigates
‘All of that could happen again... the damage has been done’
Liz Dunphy
Irish Examiner
How end of Victorian system leaves Ireland’s vulnerable financially exposed
Kathleen Gallagher
Business Post
Women in prison
Ann Murphy
Irish Examiner
Minneapolis under siege
Sean Murray
Irish Examiner
St John of God - Reckless Endangerment of Children campaign
Michael O'Farrell
Irish Mail on Sunday
The 11 year investigation that led to Ireland's first ever mass exhumation
Alison O'Reilly
Irish Examiner
Fighting to be Heard
Barry Cummins, Sallyanne Godson & Liz Walshe
RTÉ Prime Time
Bláthnaid Raleigh on the aftermath of a rape trial and the two sides of sport
Gav Cooney, Ronan Early, Niall Kelly, Gareth Lyons, Sinéad O'Carroll & Nicky Ryan
The Journal and The 42
First Conviction
Tim Desmond, David Doran, Pamela Fraher, Philip Gallagher, Aoife Hegarty, Mel Mercier, Ruth Negga & Liam O'Brien
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Investigates: Christian Brothers - The Assets, The Abusers
David Doran, Aoife Hegarty, Matt Naughton, Doireann O'Hara, Rita O'Reilly & Martin Vale
RTÉ Investigates
Trace Data
Aaron Heffernan & Kate McDonald
RTÉ Prime Time
"A Serious Scandal"?
Sallyanne Godson, Sean Malone, Paul Murphy & Mark Siung
RTÉ Prime Time
Behind Bars - Cash Deals in Irish Prisons
Isabel Perceval & Oonagh Smyth
RTÉ Prime Time
The Silent Justice Gap
Michael Staines & Jessica Woodlock
The Pat Kenny Show – Newstalk – Bauer Media Audio Ireland
In The Swastika's Shadow: Ireland and the Holocaust
James Wilson
Documentary and Drama on Newstalk
Brendan Slattery, poacher turned gamekeeper
Peter Leonard & Mark Tottenham
The Fifth Court Podcast
‘There’s no water anymore’: How palm oil plantations drained a Guatemalan rainforest community
Hannah McCarthy
The Irish Times
Dark Days on the Blackwater
Brian O'Connell
RTÉ Radio 1
Pro-development or courting danger? How councillors sought to rezone land for building in flood risk areas
Caroline O'Doherty
The Irish Times
Unauthorised and unenforced - how a concrete plant operated for 5 years without planning permission
Caroline O'Doherty
The Irish Times
Data Centre Climate Disclosures
Niall Sargent
The Currency
"Matthew's death was totally avoidable"
Anne-Marie Walsh
Irish Independent
George Gibney’s double life
Ali Bracken & Maeve Sheehan
Sunday Independent
“The ‘teen’ category was one of the most profitable”
Alice Chambers
The Currency
Russia and sanctions: How Ireland factors into the West’s crackdown on the Kremlin
Jonathan Keane
The Currency
‘The men who hurt us are still free’: Mayan survivors of civil war violence fight for justice in Guatemala
Hannah McCarthy
The Irish Times
State Investments and Human Rights: Ireland’s Financial Links to Occupied Palestine
Stephen McDermott
The Journal
Iniúchadh TG4- Trump agus na Gaeil
Rosie McNally & The Clean Slate TV
TG4 - Iniúchadh TG4
The Murder of Kirsty Ward & Legal Complexities in Ireland & Abroad
Miriam O'Callaghan & Tara Peterman
RTÉ Prime Time
Collective Crime: Irish Complicity in Gaza Genocide
Niall Sargent
The Currency
Central Bank and the Israeli Bonds
Niall Sargent
The Currency
The Flanagan files: inside a pension group’s meltdown
Barry J Whyte
The Sunday Times
Amy Campbell
The Echo
Oisín Gaffey
Business Post
Manon Gilbart
Irish Examiner
Emily Keegan
Bauer Media Audio Ireland
Darragh Murphy
Waterford News & Star
Eoin O’Hare
Business Post
Robyn Power
The Munster Express
Ella Sloane
The Irish Times
Gigged and Ghosted: How the Gig Economy is Failing Young Workers in Ireland
Arpita Chowdhury
University Observer & EA Worldview
Work, Worth and Women
Caoimhe Cleary, Kaelin Hanley, Lorraine Lally & Jake Moggan
Flirt FM
Coverage of UCD School of Medicine Sexual Assault and Image Based Sexual Abuse
Orla Mahon & Adam Schmitz
The University Observer
Mná of the Law
Kaelin Hanley, Ella Rafferty & the Women in Law Society Team
Women in Law Society, University of Galway