A simple night-image capturing a rare quiet moment on Dublin city’s main thoroughfare was today unveiled as an award-winning photo.
Scenes of seascapes and idyllic villages, towns and cities were also honoured in the GoIreland.com Photography Awards and will appear in a souvenir calendar featuring some of Ireland’s iconic images.
Thousands of entries from all over the world were submitted to the international amateur tourist photography competition, run by reservations and information provider Gulliver Ireland and John Hinde Ireland.
The winning photograph, Dublin by Night, was taken by Bernard O’Sullivan from Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin. It features O’Connell Street in the still of the night.
Views of Galway Bay, Cork’s Cobh and Roches Point, Blennerville in Tralee, Co Kerry, Bunratty in Co Clare, Kinvara, Co Galway, Derry, Drogheda and Sligo’s Enniscrone Beach also captured the judges’ interest.
Tourists from the UK and Germany, along with Irish holidaymakers from Dublin, Cork, Galway, Clare, Louth and Kerry, were among the runners-up.
Dr Stewart Stephens, of Gulliver Ireland, said the awards richly illustrate how visiting and domestic tourists perceive Ireland and what symbolises the country for them. “Bernard O’Sullivan’s photograph is a worthy winner that joins a growing collection of award-winning images of Ireland, which record the places and things that make Ireland stand out as a tourist location,” he added.
Cormac Leonard, of John Hinde Ireland, said the response to the competition was fantastic. “The variety of photos submitted was excellent,” said Mr Leonard. “We truly have a wonderful country to photograph.”
This years competition invites amateur photographers on holiday to submit photographs under the theme An Eye for Ireland. For further details visit www.goireland.com/photos. Closing date is December 15th.
PA