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TheJournal.ie's Stardust wins best Radio Documentary at Celtic Media Festival

Our six-part documentary podcast picked up a Torc Award in a virtual ceremony this evening.

STARDUST, THE SIX-part podcast made by TheJournal.ie about the 1981 disaster in Dublin, has won best Radio Documentary at this year’s Celtic Media Festival.

In doing so, TheJournal.ie became the first podcast winner in the festival’s history.

The festival was originally due to take place in Quimper in France from 4-6 June, but was held virtually due to ongoing restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

BBC Two’s Two Doors Down was named best comedy, while RTÉ’s Prime Time documentary on the Irish greyhound industry took the award for best current affairs.

TG4’s Finné Sophia Murphy won for best factual series, and RTÉ Radio 1 was named Radio Station of the Year.

The podcast was the first longform narrative podcast made by TheJournal.ie and also won a gold medal at the prestigious New York Festivals Radio Awards in April.

It got a huge reaction in Ireland, becoming a ‘must-listen’ podcast among listeners and spreading by word of mouth. It was described by The Guardian as ‘devastating and important’ and it reached #1 in the Apple podcast charts, where it has a 5-star rating.

The show was made by Sean Murray, who created and narrated the podcast, producer Nicky Ryan and executive producer Christine Bohan.

The Stardust disaster is one of the most significant stories in modern Irish history, not only because of the scale of the loss of life but also what is seen as the botched attempt by the State to deliver justice.

Forty-eight young people, most of them teenagers, were killed at the Stardust disco in Dublin in the early hours of the morning on 14 February 1981, and over 200 more were wounded.

The podcast looks at what happens when a community never gets closure after a massive tragedy and how the Irish State got its handling of the fire so wrong.

“It’s great to get the nod for this award in a very competitive category,” Sean Murray said of tonight’s win..

“I grew up in Dublin and like many people, I knew about the tragedy of the Stardust but not the full story. I wanted to tell this story to a new generation, in a way that hadn’t been done before, and putting the people who lived through it at the very centre of it.

“We’ve been living through some awful times recently, and I wish all the very best to the families ahead of the upcoming inquests.”

“We are proud as a company to enable and produce journalism of this standard,” Adrian Acosta, CEO of Journal Media, said.

“Projects like Stardust require investment and a strong commitment to journalism. We believe that covering stories like this, giving a voice to marginalised communities where tragedy has struck, is especially important right now.

“We are delighted to secure this prestigious award as recognition of the team’s efforts and of the company’s support of quality journalism.”

  • Search for us on your podcast app of choice by typing in ‘Stardust’ or ‘TheJournal.ie’.
  • You can also find us on your podcast app of choice by clicking the link below…

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8 Comments
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    Mute Dara O'Brien
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:02 PM

    The real question should be ‘is it a song’ …

    211
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    Mute Psych-nesss
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    Dec 24th 2018, 12:48 AM

    @Dara O’Brien: thick

    5
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    Mute Hellenize Dublin
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    Dec 24th 2018, 1:12 AM

    @Dara O’Brien: thin

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    Mute Acedeuce
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    Dec 24th 2018, 1:29 AM

    @Hellenize Dublin: voluptuous

    8
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    Mute Acedeuce
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:03 PM

    Debatable.. But what’s not debatable is whether or not die hard is a Christmas movie! Be interesting to see a poll on that.. Because its most definitely not a Christmas movie imo!!

    70
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    Mute Stephen Curry
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:18 PM

    @Acedeuce: it’s not Christmas until Hans Gruber falls from Nakatomi plaza

    140
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    Mute Dave Thomas
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:23 PM

    @Acedeuce: it’s all about a man trying to spend Christmas with his family.. it’s just some terrorists turn up.

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    Mute Celtic_Horizon
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:26 PM
    4
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    Mute Michael
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:31 PM

    @Acedeuce: ultimate Christmas film… ho ho ho now I’ve got a machine gun

    31
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    Mute Kev
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 11:16 PM

    @Stephen Curry: Peralta?

    4
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    Mute Glangan
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    Dec 24th 2018, 4:18 PM

    @Acedeuce: Silence! Of course Die Hard is a Xmas Film.

    1
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    Mute Glangan
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    Dec 24th 2018, 4:19 PM

    @Dave Thomas: well done

    1
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    Mute David O'Toole
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:11 PM

    Think it was written about the death of his brother when they were young. It was a Xmas no 1

    45
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    Mute Davy Boy
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:12 PM

    Surprised it has not been banned stay another day , it that not the same as baby it’s cold outside?

    25
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    Mute James Wallace
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 8:39 PM

    @Davy Boy: no, because he is singing to his brother who committed suicide

    26
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    Mute Dave O'Keeffe
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    Dec 24th 2018, 8:03 AM

    @Davy Boy: also, has ‘baby it’s cold outside’ been banned? probably just in your head. But the line with the drink spiking is a little bit weird though

    3
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    Mute Pixie McMullen
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:13 PM

    Every “Christmas”song evokes a different memory in different people,whether it has a Christmas theme or not, the Number 1 at Christmas from years past brings nostalgia and colours our judgement,
    Is Jonah Lewies Stop the cavalry song a Christmas song? No, it was an anti war song,
    mull of Kintyre is another one,
    East 17 released their song smack bang on the pulse of romantic songs and era at the time
    To me, from my age group, the likes of The Flying Pickets, Band Aid, Chris Rea and believe it or not, Wham lol

    20
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    Mute Pixie McMullen
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:20 PM

    @Pixie McMullen: Oh! and mull of Kintyre, i have fond memories of being 12 years old and delivering milk with the local milkman that morning, always stopped off at my house for tea and a warm up, Women put warm milk bottles out when they heard the truck, and there were little tips of 50p flying that weekend, rosy cheeked freezing cold and as happy as F**k

    15
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    Mute Darcy
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 8:52 PM

    @Pixie McMullen: flying pickets , now I did love them and Wham of course !

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    Mute Dave O'Keeffe
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    Dec 24th 2018, 9:38 AM

    @Pixie McMullen: awww now that is a nice memory.

    1
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    Mute Greg Ward
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:05 PM

    It’s not a real Christmas song. Just a real sh!t song.

    30
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    Mute Darcy
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 8:11 PM

    NO its not it has nothing to do with Christmas

    9
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    Mute Michael
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 11:26 PM

    @Darcy: why not?

    2
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    Mute Dara O'Brien
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:17 PM

    It identifies as a Christmas song – it’s wishes must be respected.

    But;

    Nobody asked the shinners so the poll is just an FFG shill perpetrated by the Christmas elite.

    Also;

    If it had just paid its Christmas dues, it wouldn’t be the centre of this debate at all – I cant believe that this is the Christmas song that people have chosen to get behind …

    Etc etc

    11
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    Mute Uncle Montys oaf
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:04 PM

    It’s a crap song

    33
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    Mute TellingItAsItIs
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 8:25 PM

    Seriously? Could you guys not drum up a bit of news?

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    Mute Michael
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 11:28 PM

    @TellingItAsItIs: if you don’t like the article you don’t have to go into it and comment on it look else where lad

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    Mute TellingItAsItIs
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 11:53 PM

    @Michael: It’s a public forum pal. I’ll comment on it if I wish.

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    Mute Michael
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    Dec 24th 2018, 12:43 AM

    @TellingItAsItIs: maybe public but if I don’t like a forum I’ll pass on it…not go into it and comment on it saying I don’t like it

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    Mute TellingItAsItIs
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    Dec 24th 2018, 8:18 AM

    @Michael: you do what you would do kid and I’ll do what I do.

    4
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    Mute John Connolly
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:02 PM

    A slow news day!!!!!! The 42 would prob get a better reaction if they asked if Die Hard a Christmas movie…….

    11
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    Mute Earl of Daventry
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    Dec 24th 2018, 12:58 AM

    The writer, Tony Mortimer gets serious royalties off this. He’s worth £60 million.

    5
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    Mute ivan lynch
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 7:54 PM

    Should be banned

    5
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    Mute Quentin Moriarty
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 10:13 PM

    Take out the background bells and could be played in July

    3
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    Mute Michael
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 10:40 PM

    @Quentin Moriarty: take out Christmas out of all songs and they could be played in July going by your logic…

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    Mute Quentin Moriarty
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 11:49 PM

    @Michael: Christmas just bell sounds ?

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    Mute Michael
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    Dec 24th 2018, 12:51 AM

    @Quentin Moriarty: you could replace that word with anything like you can replace back Round bells with any kind of instrument…going by your logic

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    Mute Michael
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    Dec 24th 2018, 12:53 AM

    @Michael: ment to say back ground

    1
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    Mute Paul M. Barrett
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 9:21 PM

    It’s an atrocious song, the same monotonous chorus repeated over and over by a group who were a poor version of Take That. It’s best forgotten about not debated.

    3
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    Mute Michael
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 10:33 PM

    @Paul M. Barrett: may not all about the song…like me could be that the time and year it was released I got my first Sega mega drive that Christmas….cheer up lad it’s Christmas

    7
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    Mute Crocodylus Pontifex
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 9:36 PM

    Is ‘The Monster Mash’ a valentin’s day song? It wasn’t but since 1993 it has been

    2
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    Mute Barra O Brien
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    Dec 24th 2018, 2:16 AM

    No

    1
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    Mute Darren Sheridan
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    Dec 24th 2018, 12:34 PM

    Jingle Bells doesn’t mention Christmas so.. sure why not.

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    Mute Gisbert Bayertz
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    Dec 23rd 2018, 9:06 PM

    It’s a crap song

    1
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    Mute Noel Kelly
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    Dec 24th 2018, 9:07 PM

    It’s not a Christmas song but bells were added to make it a Christmas song

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    Mute Matthew Gorman
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    Dec 24th 2018, 1:51 PM

    Yes it’s got bells in it.

    1
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