It was a weekend of major awards with RTE and BBC giving over two hours each of primetime television on Saturday and Sunday to celebrate the achievements of the sporting stars of 2015.
Belfast boxer Michael Conlon was a deserving winner of the RTÉ award on Saturday with fellow Northern Ireland man Michael O’Neill winning the Coach of the Year award.
He will have to find room for a decent trophy cabinet as he picked up the same gong from the BBC in their spectacular show hosted for the first time this year at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast.
Rory McIlroy and Barry McGuigan were on hand to reveal two of the big awards of the night, the Overall BBC Sports Personality of the Year Andy Murray and a lifetime achievement award for Antrim native and horse racing legend Tony McCoy who was welcomed onto the stage by a guard of honour of racing personalities including Ruby Walsh, JP McManus, Aidan O’Brien and Peter Scudamore.
Speaking to the audience at the RTE Awards before the cameras were switched on RTE Head of Sport Ryle Nugent spoke of how the broadcaster would remain ‘central, pivotal and relevant’ to sport throughout next year and beyond while Minister Paschal O’Donohoe was also given an opportunity to voice the Government’s ongoing commitment to sport.
Conor McGregor did not make it back in time to attend but his manager John Kavanagh was interviewed by Darragh Moloney on the night and delivered a humble and impressive thanks to those who had placed his sport of MMA in such illustrious company.
The BBC has turned its event into a big production with tickets selling out quickly to enable a vociferous crowd of 8,000 to enjoy the show attended by most of the big sporting stars of the year and featuring a performance by Ella Henderson.
We wonder given the likely magical year of sport to be coming in 2016 whether RTÉ might consider a similar public access event in future years.  If ticket sales could make it a zero sum game it could be worth it to put on a show to remember.
Amid all the achievement and celebration the show stealer across both nights was arguably Bailey Matthews. The eight year old who has cerebral palsy was given the special Helen Rollason Award for ‘Outstanding Achievement in the face of adversity.
