Kilmoon student's Smedia award

Gerard Ball, Kilmoon Cross, Ashbourne,  a student at Dublin City University has won the prestigious Irish Times Student Hub of the Year award at the National Student Media Awards.

Known as the SMedias, and now in their 17th year, the awards acknowledge outstanding contributions in the world of media, including print, broadcast, radio, film, blogging and short story writing from third-level students.

Gerard, who is a past pupil of Ashbourne Community College was honoured for his feature piece on homophobia in the workplace.

The final year journalism student was prompted to write the article after experiencing homophobia and sexism in a former work-place.

“My piece centred on how I was to witness blatant levels of homophobia and to a lesser extent, sexism in a former work-place. They didn't know about my sexuality, but lots of people assumed me to be straight and went on to thrash gays assuming that I'd agree with their viewpoint. I guess it resonated with alot of others.”