Jo Murphy Recieves Award |  News Archive

Jo is debut Woman of 2007

Belfast Telegraph applauds Ulster women for inspiration and ingenuity

Thursday, November 29, 2007

By Fiona McIlwaine Biggins

A stunning selection of Northern Ireland's most exceptional and outstanding women were out in glamorous force last night for the finals of the debut Belfast Telegraph Woman of the Year Awards in association with Spar.

The gala evening saw leading women of achievement from all walks of life and all corners of the province arrive at the city's Europa Hotel to find out if they had scooped a title in the first ever awards to recognise and celebrate the most inspirational women in Northern Ireland.

The announcement of the winners had been kept well and truly under wraps until the evening but the five judges from the fields of the media, business and fashion were very complementary about the high standard of nominations received and impressed by the passion, drive and energy of the nominees put forward in each field.

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The judges successfully selected one winner and two finalists in each of the nine categories, as well as the overall champion, Jo Murphy, co-ordinator of the PIPS project, who took the top accolade and was crowned BT Woman of the Year in association with Spar at the prestigious ceremony.

Each winner took home an exclusive Belleek Living trophy and a special certificate marking the occasion.

Martin Lindsay, Belfast Telegraph Editor was delighted with the success of the debut BT Women of the Year Awards.

"Belfast Telegraph runs a number of successful awards recognising excellence in a variety of walks of life, including business and sports, so we were thrilled to get behind this latest competition.

"Our features section has a strong emphasis on women's issues and stories and the idea for the awards developed organically from that.

"We have been delighted with the truly remarkable uptake in interest in these debut awards and hope they will be the first of many more to come."

Meanwhile, Bronagh Luke, marketing controller, Henderson Group (owners of the SPAR franchise in Northern Ireland), said: "Everyone in Northern Ireland lives near a SPAR store which is owned and operated by local people, the very people that have been recognised in these, the first Belfast Telegraph Woman of the Year Awards.

"For that reason, SPAR is proud to have been title sponsor.

"We are thrilled at the level of response from Belfast Telegraph readers, which has been overwhelming - a real testament to the achievements of local women. We can all draw real inspiration from hearing their stories.

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"As sponsor, we are delighted with how successful the awards have been and, on behalf of SPAR, congratulations to all involved."

The night was compared by BBC Radio Ulster presenter Wendy Austin and the guest speaker was the remarkable Claire Bertschinger - the inspiration for Bob Geldof's Band Aid famine relief campaign in the 1980s.

The entertainment was provided by Victoria College Chamber Choir and later the glitzy celebrations continued into the early hours to the swinging sounds of singer Martin John.