womeninmedia.ie
Mary Cummins Award
Women in Media
The Women in Media conference is delighted to announce three special Awards, honouring not only the recipient, but the pioneer from whom the award garners its name. These are the Mary Cummins Award for Women of Outstanding Achievement in the Media, and the Joan Kennelly Special Merit Award and the new Social Media Influencer Award.
MARY CUMMINS AWARD
The Mary Cummins Award for Women of Outstanding Achievement in the Media is annually awarded as part of the Women in Media conference.
Recognising the contributions to forwarding the role Women have played in shaping the landscape of the Media industry in Ireland, the Mary Cummins Award is for all concerned an integral part of the Women in Media conference.
General Rules & Guidelines for nominations / candidates 2019
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Candidates have made or are continuing to make advancements in their selected media and improve the roles of Irish Women in the Media industry.
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Candidates who have previously won the Mary Cummins award within the last two year previous will be ineligible for award.
Mary Cummins was born in Castletownshend, Co. Cork on the 19th November 1944. Her father was a Garda sergeant and so his job took the family to Knocknagoshel, Co. Kerry and finally to Ballybunion.
After completing her Leaving Cert in St Joseph’s Secondary School in Ballybunion, Mary worked briefly in the Civil Service before training as a nurse and qualifying as a midwife in Dublin’s Rotunda Hospital.
Mary’s ambition was to write and so she pursued freelance journalism until she was hired by The Irish Times in 1970.
Mary Cummins
Biography
Part of the first generation of women who broke into the male dominated mainstream of Irish journalism, she wrote news and features in Dublin before going to the paper’s London office, where in 1971 she had the world exclusive story of the pregnancy of Bernadette Devlin MP.
Mary returned to Dublin in the late 1970’s where again, working with The Irish Times, she held a number of positions before being appointed Women’s Affairs Correspondent in 1991, a role she combined with reporting from the Seanad.
In October 1996, Marino published a collection of her About Women columns which they say, since 1993 ‘has surprised, provoked, and infuriated readers- and stimulated discussion of many aspects of Irish life. Mary Cummins had no hesitation in taking on church, state, politicians, or any other structures that need to be reformed’.
Mary died of lung cancer on the 15th of November 1999.
Dearbhail McDonald winner of the 2017 Mary Cummins Award for Women of Outstanding Achievement in the Media. Presented by Miriam O'Callaghan and Joan O'Connor.
The Mary Cummins Award for Women of Outstanding Achievement in the Media is annually awarded as part of the Women in Media conference.
Recognising the contributions to forwarding the role Women have played shaping the landscape of the Media industry in Ireland, the Mary Cummins Award is for all concerned an integral part of the Women in Media conference.
Past winners of the prestigious Award include Miriam O’ Callaghan, Geraldine Kennedy, Olivia O’ Leary, Mary Maher & Dearbhail Mc Donald
The award was designed by artist Folker Fishman.
Note from The Artist: Folker Fishman
"I worked for 42 years in Glass-refinement, specifically as a glass painter. I have created “The Lady" by a special glass-melting process. Every sculpture is unique and I model it in a heat resistant sand. The mould is a lost form and after heating the glass there is only dust. I form the mould with different tools, like spoons, scraping knives & sometimes my fingers. The heat resistant sand is very fine grained. The mixture is sworn to secrecy by the Inventor. Some people think that it is moon dust. Who knows? Some say that “The Lady” is born out of a sandcorn. Glass is a crystal fluent and the heating unlocks it from rigidity. Careful heating is very important. At 800/900 degrees the glass falls smoothly into the mould. Having been held at this heat for approximately 4/5 hours the finished glass-sculpture needs a long time for the cooling process. This can sometimes take 20 to 30 hours. It is crucial to cool slowly as there cannot be any tension in the glass. The green hue is born from metal-oxides which reflects the inner light so it appears three dimensional. Finally, I put it together on the socket with an ultra-violet adhesive and lamp.Combining the wooden pedestal and its beautiful grain created by Donnchadh O’ Connor provides “The Lady” with its finishing touch.!"