Dr Muiris Houston, medical correspondent of The Irish Times, has been selected as Irish medical journalist of the year. He is one of seven journalists from print, broadcast and electronic media honoured at the inaugural GSK Irish Medical Media Awards.
The awards were presented yesterday at a ceremony in St Patrick's Hall at Dublin Castle. The Minister of State for Health, Dr Tom Moffatt, presented the distinctions, which were announced by the chairman of the judging panel, RTÉ broadcaster, Dr John Bowman.
In its citation, the judging panel praised Dr Houston's work for being "of the highest international calibre tackling complex health issues with in-depth research and invariably illuminated by accessible jargon-free language". He received a specially commissioned sculpture by silversmith Seamus Gill and a cheque for €5,000.
The second major prize, young Irish medical journalist of the year, went to Mr Cormac Bourke of Ireland on Sunday. The judges highlighted his "consistently accurate level of reporting over a broad spectrum of themes". He received a silver award and a cheque for €2,500.
