RTÉ Drama Festival Director Michael McGlone speaking at last Saturday's RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival Gala Dinner & Awards Presentation in the Radisson Blu Hotel. Photo: Eric Molloy.
Gallery: Inside the RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival gala awards ceremony
The RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival gala awards ceremony in Athlone’s Radisson Blu Hotel took place on Saturday.
The event was hosted by Nuala Carey and Simon Delaney, as the curtains came down on the 2025 RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival.
The festival is held under the auspices of the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland (ADCI).
Ballyduff Drama Group, directed by Ger Canning, were crowned RTÉ All-Ireland Drama champions for their performance of ‘The Blackwater Lightship’ by Colm Tóibín, adapted for stage by David Horan.
Balally Players, directed by Declan Rudden, who performed ‘Ulster American’ by David Ireland, were placed second, and, Bridge Drama, directed by Susan Somers, who performed ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ based on the novel by Mark Haddon and adapted by Simon Stephens, were placed third.
Other award winners included Cillian Tobin, Bridge Drama, who took home the best actor award for his role as Christopher Boone in ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’. Catherine Stafford, Ballycogley Players, received the award for the best actress in a supporting role for her portrayal of Maggie in ‘Lend Me A Tenor’.
The award for best stage management award went to Mary O’Connor, Bridge Drama, ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ and the award for best stage lighting went to Mark Redmond, Bridge Drama. Emma Walsh, Brideview Drama Group, won the Adjudicator’s prize for Valerie’s speech in ‘The Weir’. The Drama League of Ireland (DLI) Summer School Scholarship went to Sarah Smith, Newpoint Players for her role as the dummy in ‘Ghetto’.
Ronan Bennett Best Supporting Actor Ballyduff Drama Group, Festival Adjudicator Walker Ewart, Ger Canning Best Director and overall winners Ballyduff Drama Group.
Image 2 of 14
RTÉ hosts Nuala Carey & Simon Delaney.
Image 3 of 14
Festival Director Michael McGlone and Deirdre McGlone.
Image 4 of 14
Doreen Holloway Festival Secretary presented a bouquet of Flowers by RTÉ Drama Festival Director Michael McGlone.
Image 5 of 14
Festival Director Michael McGlone, RTÉ's Nuala Carey, Ronan Bennett Best Supporting Actor Ballyduff Drama Group, Ger Canning Best Director and overall winners Ballyduff Drama Group, and RTE's Simon Delaney.
Image 6 of 14
Festival Director Michael McGlone with RTÉ's Nuala Carey & Simon Delaney.
Image 7 of 14
Regina & Ronan Bushell.
Image 8 of 14
Festival Director Michael McGlone, Liam Hannaway Chairman ADCI, and Festival Adjudicator Walker Ewart.
Image 9 of 14
Festival Committee Ladies Olive Martin, Aisling King, Majella O' Dea, and Paola Bassanese.
Image 10 of 14
Ballyduff Drama Group overall winners from Co. Waterford at last Saturdays RTÉ All Ireland Drama Festival Gala Dinner & Awards Presentation.
Image 11 of 14
Claire & Alan Shaw.
Image 12 of 14
Drama Festival Ladies Eileen Jennings, Margaret Egan, Mary Merrigan, Doreen O' Shea, and Gill Moran.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
