RTÉ Radio, which encompasses RTÉ Radio One, 2FM, lyric fm, RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and digital radio channels, has won the Broadcaster of the Year Award at the New York Festivals Radio Awards.
183 finalists from 26 countries took part in the final of the competition.
This is the first time in the festival's 54-year history that an Irish station has won broadcaster of the year.
In addition, RTÉ Radio programmes took home a further 16 awards, including seven awards plus a Grand Award for RTÉ Radio 1's 'Documentary on One', six awards for RTÉ Radio 1's 'Drama on One', one award for RTÉ lyric fm and one award for RTÉ Gold, one of RTÉ Radio's seven digital services.
Clare Duignan, Managing Director, RTÉ Radio, said: "For 54 years the New York Festivals Awards has recognised the world's best programmes.
"This year, not only have RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ lyric fm and RTÉ Gold won a total of 16 awards, but the Grand Jury, comprised of top-level industry professionals from five continents, have crowned RTÉ Radio as the Broadcaster of the Year."
She continued: "Not only do these awards confirm RTÉ Radio's excellence in public broadcasting, they place RTÉ Radio among the greatest of our public broadcasting peers internationally. When you look at the breadth of the wins, from drama to documentary, music to history, sport to health, you get an insight into the variety of genre offered by RTÉ Radio.
"And the number of crafts which have been so richly rewarded - editing, writing, sound, narration and direction - reminds us that great crafted radio can only come from that elusive alchemy between skill, artistry and vision. My warmest congratulations to all the winners, and to all who work in RTÉ Radio, the New York Festivals Broadcaster of the Year 2011."
Winning RTÉ Radio programmes at the 2011 New York Festivals Radio Awards:
Broadcaster of the Year: RTÉ Radio
Grand Award: Documentary on One, 'Don’t Go Far’, RTÉ Radio 1
Gold (Health/Medical): Documentary on One, 'In the Same Boat’, RTÉ Radio 1
Gold (Best Drama Special): Drama on One, 'Medea', in a new translation by Robin Robertson, RTÉ Radio 1
Gold (Best Regularly Scheduled Drama Program): Drama on One, 'Grenades' by Tara McKevitt, RTÉ Radio 1
Gold (Best Editing): Drama on One, 'In Praise of Darkness' by Luke Clancy, RTÉ Radio 1
Gold (Profiles/Community Portraits): Documentary on One, 'Don't Go Far', RTÉ Radio 1
Gold (Editorial/Viewpoint Programme): Documentary on One, 'Searching for Answers', RTÉ Radio 1
Gold (Best Narration): Documentary on One, 'Los Preciosos', RTÉ Radio 1
Gold (Best Director): Drama on One, 'Ian Really Likes Mary' by Gary Mitchell, RTÉ Radio 1
Silver (History): 'The Sea in Song', RTÉ lyric fm
Silver (Best Writing): Drama on One, 'The Burial at Thebes' by Seamus Heaney, RTÉ Radio 1
Bronze (Best Music Special): 'Jimi Hendrix - Look Over Yonder', RTÉ Gold
Bronze (Culture & The Arts): Documentary on One, 'The Caretaker', RTÉ Radio 1
Bronze (Best Sound): Drama on One, 'The Hit List' by John Boorman, RTÉ Radio 1
Finalist Award Winner (Social Issues/Current Events): Documentary on One, 'Dogfight: Conor and Charlie', RTÉ Radio 1
Finalist Award Winner (Sports Commentary/Analysis): Documentary on One, 'Heroes of the Caribbean', RTÉ Radio 1
