RTE Shortlist Announced for the RTE Sports Awards 2009

Shortlist Announced for the RTة Sports Awards 2009

In association with the Irish Sports Council

RTة Sport have announced the shortlist of nine finalists for the RTة Sports Person of the Year Award and eight finalists for the RTة Team of the Year Award. The winners will be presented with their awards at The RTة Sports Awards 2009 which will be broadcast live on RTة One, this Sunday 20 December at 9.30pm.

Presented by Michael Lyster, Darragh Maloney and Des Cahill, the live show will review what was a wonderful year for Irish athletes and teams and look back on the dramatic and memorable sporting moments of 2009.

The RTة Sports Person of the Year shortlist consists of: Rory McIlroy, Top 10 world-ranked golfing sensation; John Oxx, trainer of champion racehorse Sea The Stars; Katie Taylor, European Boxing Championship gold medallist; Brian Cody, All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship-winning Kilkenny manager; Olive Loughnane, World Athletics Championship silver medallist; Brian O’Driscoll, Ireland’s Grand Slam-winning captain and Heineken Cup winner; Shane Lowry, the first ever amateur winner of the Irish Open; Bernard Dunne, WBA Super Bantamweight title winner and Paul Galvin, Kerry’s All-Ireland Senior Football Championship-winning footballer.

Celebrating the collaborative achievements of Irish athletes, the RTة Sports Team of the Year shortlist includes: four-in-a-row All Ireland winners, the Kilkenny Hurling Team; Heineken Cup winners, Leinster; winners of the A1 Grand Prix World Cup of Motorsport, Team Ireland; five-in-a-row All Ireland title winners, the Cork Ladies Football team; FAI League of Ireland Premier Division back-to-back title winners, Bohemian Football Club; Grand Slam winners, the Irish international rugby team, All Ireland Football Champions, the Kerry football Team and the team behind racing sensation Sea The Stars.

The winners will be selected by a panel of RTة sports journalists and broadcasters and will be announced live on the night.

The awards ceremony will also see the honour of the RTة/Irish Sports Council's Hall of Fame Award presented to a very deserving Irish sporting veteran.