Irish Times / Irish Sports Council Awards
Irish women's sport has never been stronger and in recent years the success of Irish Sport has been largely dominated by our female sports stars. The range of sporting disciplines where Irish Sportswomen excel both nationally and internationally supports the appeal and benefits of National recognition. It is for this reason that The Irish Times set up the Sportswoman of the Year Awards, to recognise the abilities and achievements of women in Irish Sport.
Since the Awards began in January 2004, many of Ireland's greatest sportswomen, both established and up-and-coming, have been crowned Sportswoman of the Month and have been prominently profiled in The Irish Times.
The Awards run over a period of 12 months commencing on 1st January each year. Each month a judging panel will select a monthly winner. The monthly winner's photograph and profile appears in The Irish Times on the second Wednesday of each month. From these 12 monthly winners, the overall Sportswoman of the Year is selected. Each sportswoman is eligible for just one monthly award but her achievements throughout the year are taken into account by the panel of judges when deciding on the overall winner. The Sportswoman of the Year is announced at an Awards ceremony in January.
The judging panel for 2011 consists of three independent judges, namely:
- Greg Allen (RTE)
- Lindie Naughton (Evening Herald)
- Mary Hannigan (The Irish Times)