DONEGAL star Karl Lacey, team manager Jim McGuinness and the squad have all been nominated in the nation’s most prestigious sports awards.
RTÉ Sport has included all three as it announced the shortlist for the RTÉ Sports Person of the Year Award, the RTÉ Sports Team of the Year Award and the RTÉ Sports Manager of the Year Award.
The winners will be revealed and presented with their awards at a special ceremony, in conjunction with the Irish Sports Council, on RTÉ One on Sunday, 23 December at 9.30pm.
Presented by Darragh Maloney, the live show will review what was a momentous year for Irish athletes and teams, and look back on the dramatic and memorable sporting moments of 2012.
The RTÉ Sports Person of the Year shortlist features the following 10 nominees:
Fionnuala Britton – European Cross Country gold medallist
Rory McIlroy – World number one golfer and USPGA champion
Mark Rohan – Handcycling Paralympic double gold medalist,
Karl Lacey – Donegal’s All-Ireland winning centre-back and GAA/GPA Footballer of the Year
Rob Kearney – Heineken Cup winner, ERC European Player of the Year and Guinness Rugby Writers Player of the Year
Katie Taylor – Olympic gold medal winner and world boxing champion
Jason Smyth – Double gold medal-winning Paralympic athlete and world record holder in the 100m and 200m
Henry Shefflin – All-Ireland winner and GAA/GPA Hurler of the Year
Michael McKillop – Double gold medal-winning Paralympian in the 800m and 1500m
Joseph O’Brien – Champion jockey and winner of the Irish Derby, Epsom Derby, 2000 Guineas, Coronation Cup, Prince of Wales’s Stakes, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Racing Post Trophy and Grand Prix de Paris
Celebrating the collaborative achievements of Irish athletes, the RTÉ Sports Team of the Year shortlist features:
Leinster – Three-time Heineken European Cup winners
Donegal – All-Ireland and Ulster football champions
Cork – All-Ireland Ladies football champions for six out of the last seven years
Irish Paralympic team – Recorded a 16-medal haul at London 2012
Sligo Rovers – Winners of the Airtricity League Premier Division title for the first time in 35 years
Kilkenny – Back-to-back All-Ireland hurling champions
Wexford – Three-in-a-row All-Ireland camogie champions and the Irish boxing team – Claimed four medals at the London Olympics
Irish women’s cross country team – Gold medallists at the European Championships in Budapest.
In recognition of the huge effort behind the scenes and on the sidelines, the RTÉ Sports Manager of the Year nominees are:
Brian Cody – Kilkenny hurling manager
JJ Doyle – Wexford camogie manager
Billy Walsh – Head coach with the IABA High Performance Unit
Mick Cooke – Drogheda United manager whose side won the EA Sports Cup and qualified for the Europa League
Joe Schmidt – Heineken European Cup-winning coach
Jim McGuinness – Donegal football manager who bridged a 20-year gap in bringing Sam Maguire back to the North West
Eamonn Ryan – Manager of the Cork ladies football squad who again in 2012 claimed All-Ireland honours
The awards ceremony will also see the RTÉ/Irish Sports Council’s Hall of Fame Award presented to a very special Irish sporting legend.
This year, the highly-coveted RTÉ Team of The Year Award will be open to a public vote. Voting lines – via phone and text – will be open on the night with details announced at the beginning of the programme and on www.rte.ie. (So get voting on the night Donegal).
The winner of the RTÉ Sports Person of the Year will be selected by a panel of RTÉ Sport journalists and editorial staff.
The winner of the RTÉ Sport Manager of the Year will be selected by a panel of representatives from 18 national media outlets.
For more information see www.rte.ie/sport
