IMROs: BBC NI wins six gold awards at Irish radio ceremony

Evening Extra presenters Declan Harvey and Richard Morgan, with producer Gráinne Deeney, celebrate the team's win in the News Programme category

BBC Northern Ireland has won six gold, two silver and three bronze awards at the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) Awards 2023.

Declan Harvey took the top award for News Broadcaster of the Year, while Stephen Nolan won gold for Speech Broadcaster of the Year.

The John Toal Show won gold for Magazine Programme of the Year.

There were also golds for The Nolan Show, Evening Extra and the Belfast Mixtape.

It came after BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle secured 18 nominations for the ceremony in County Kilkenny.

These nominations spanned a wide range of output including speech, news, music, sport, specialist music and BBC Gaeilge.

John Toal and Helen Bamberry after The John Toal Show's gold for Magazine Programme

Kevin Kelly, BBC NI head of news and current affairs, said: "Tonight's awards are a fantastic recognition of our journalism at BBC News in Northern Ireland.

"It's been another incredibly busy year for news and these awards are superb recognition and testament to the dedication of the presenters and teams in radio current affairs who continually strive to provide high quality programmes.

"They should all rightly be very proud of what they have achieved."

Emma Dunseith, senior head of content production at BBC Northern Ireland, said: "We are passionate about providing our audiences with programmes that reflect their lives and their interests, and we work hard daily to deliver fresh, engaging and informative content.

"This has been another great year for BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle and we're grateful that our efforts have been recognised by our peers in this way at the IMRO Awards."

Daniela Cavaliere, Connor Phillips, Paul McClean and David O'Reilly after The Belfast Mixtape won gold for Music Special/Music Event

The BBC Northern Ireland winners were:

• Stephen Nolan won gold in the Speech Broadcaster of the Year category

• Evening Extra's Declan Harvey won gold for News Broadcaster of the Year, while Good Morning Ulster's Chris Buckler won bronze in the same category

• The Nolan Show won gold in the Interactive Speech Programme category, with Talkback picking up a bronze in the same category

• Evening Extra won gold for its coverage of 'The New Prime Minister' in the News Programme (full service) category

• The John Toal Show won gold in the Magazine Programme category

• The Belfast Mixtape won gold in the Music Special/Music Event category

• BBC Radio Ulster was awarded silver for National Station Of Year

• Foyle Sportsound picked up a silver for its coverage of the FAI Cup Final in the Sports Programme (Local/Regional) category

• Good Morning Ulster picked up a bronze in the Current Affairs (full service) category for its coverage of the US presidential visit to Northern Ireland with 'Good Morning Mr President'