New Irish Soap & Comedy at the forefront of the IFTA Gala TV Awards

At the second annual IFTA Gala TV Awards last weekend in Dublin, the most distinguished Irish talent on the small screen in Ireland was honoured by the Irish Academy, with big wins on the night awarded to the latest wave of Irish soap and comedy.

‘Bridget & Eamon’ received the IFTA for Best Director Soap/Comedy (Jason Butler) and Best Comedy, while the award for Best Irish Soap went to ‘Red Rock’ for the second consecutive year.

With unbounded public support for both productions on social media, and both having sold to the UK in the last twelve months, the quality and pace of Irish drama is higher than ever before.

‘Bridget & Eamon’

‘Bridget & Eamon’ starring Jennifer Zamparelli and Bernard O’Shea also enjoyed nominations for Best Female Performance Soap / Comedy for Zamparelli and Best Writer Soap / Comedy. Its writers are Zamparelli, O’Shea and Butler.

The comedy series is the first fully RTÉ funded comedy to air in the UK, having been acquired by UKTV in August of this year. It was also renewed for a second season at home the previous month. The far-reaching success of ‘Bridget & Eamon’ at home and internationally following a single season on air attests to the calibre of content being produced in Ireland at present.

Jason Butler, Director & Writer:
"To win one IFTA was amazing. Two is almost unbelievable, especially in the face of such great competition. The response to Bridget & Eamon’’ has been wonderful and nights like the IFTAs make the all the hard work by the whole team worth it. I'm still jumping with over-excitement!"

Jennifer Zamparelli, Lead Actress & Writer:
"We were just so thrilled to win Best Comedy—an absolute shock. I think our faces say it all as we really did not expect to win. We were honoured to even be nominated the win was the icing on the cake, in a tough category with some really stiff competition. We were delighted to be such talented company. Thank you IFTA."

Bernard O’Shea, Lead Actor & Writer:
"Most of my first times at anything resulted in embarrassment apart from the IFTAs. I lasted most of the night and won an award. Thanks for an amazing time."

 ‘Red Rock’

‘Red Rock’ was also nominated in multiple categories, with Sean Mahon nominated for Best Male Performance Soap/Comedy, both Andrea Irvine and Jane McGrath for Best Female Performance Soap/Comedy, Paul Walker for Writer Soap/Comedy, and  both Diarmuid Goggins and Lisa Mulcahy for Director Soap/Comedy.

Former TV3 Chief Executive David McRedmond previously described ‘Red Rock’ as the most important thing the broadcaster had ever done. It has done on not only to BBC One but also to Amazon Prime.

Kim Revill, Writer:
“To be recognised by our peers in the Irish television drama community, for the second year running, is a testament to the hard work, dedication and talent of our cast and crew. We have always been proud of our ambitious approach to storytelling and high production values, and to win Best Soap feels like a huge vindication of our efforts. Thank you IFTA.”

Congratulations to all of the nominees and winners.