Dear friends and partners of redACtionsbureau, Dear friends and partners of redACtionsbureau,

It’s incredible! The “double” is perfect! We’ve won the Journalist’s Award Ireland for the second time. Once again in the online category: “Offshore in the Otherworld”, published under The Celtic Ways, written on the Aran Islands, is the winner.

I still don’t get it. But the very thought of that great Irish Night at the recent ITB still feels so alive, so serene and cheerful that it must be true. It was a great evening of storytellers, so fun-loving and merry but sometimes also pensive.

How it came about and how it was is the topic of our workshop report from Berlin, recounted for the occasion.

So happy, Heinz

The Journalist’s Award Ireland and the Irish Night are an established event at the International Tourism Fair. This one was the 41st. The award is traditionally handed out by the Irish ambassador, thus also this time on 8 March: S.E. Michael Collins, cordial and typically Irish relaxed, emphasized the priceless importance of authentic travelogues in print and online and thanked the gathered media representatives for the fruitful cooperation over the years. Sovereign as diplomats are, with unmistakeable humour, he made a remarkable statement on the situation of the world: Ireland backs the EU – We’ll stay in the European community, even if it means being the only English-speaking country. And once again with a look at the gathered media representatives: We value and want to have a free and independent press.

To this I can only say: Thank you, Ireland! This praise is a great honour for me and a cause for joy.

The party was held appropriately in the “Irish Harp”, an Irish island right in Berlin. We already mentioned the location of this jolly pub, meanwhile well known to all of us, once before: it is situated at the corner of Sybel and Giesebrecht Sts. We have meanwhile become “Irish islands experts” so believe me when I say that it’s a place you’ve just got to see. Better still, go straight to the Green Isle. Landscape and culture are fascinating! But careful: continued visits are a real possibility and there is a risk of wanting to come again and again! ‘Cause the Irish are such loveable and generous hosts. We were able to experience that repeatedly, also on that evening.

Our sincere thanks to Tourism Ireland, especially to Judith von Rauchhaupt and her team. Ireland has a great „overseas branch office“ in Frankfurt. For all guests, it was once again a cordial Irish evening, a very congenial encounter among friends.

Indeed, it was a lovely evening. My thanks to the Curatorium and the jury for their choice. It requires nigh acribic diligence to carefully check each of the many anonymous votes. Viola Wallmüller, award presenter of the Ireland Jury, pointed out that it is above all travelogues focussing on personal experiences and encounters that convince the reader and create the desire to visit Ireland.

Participants come from editorial teams all over Germany, from A to Z: ACE Lenkrad, Augsburger Allgemeine, Badische Neueste Nachrichten, Berliner Zeitung, Cybertours-X Magazin, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Golfgenuss, Hamburger Abendblatt, Kieler Nachrichten online, kulinariker.de, m-lifestyle.de, Markgräfler Tageblatt, Mindener Tageblatt, Mobil Total, Nürnberger Nachrichten, Die Presse – Schaufenster, Prisma online, redACtionsbureau, reisenundgolfen.de, Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, Spiegel, Spiegel online, Straubinger Tagblatt, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Der Tagesspiegel, TV Spielfilm, urlaubsguru.de und ZEIT online.

The winners in 2016 are: For regional newspapers: Petra Plaum: „Dolphin Meets Pubertarian“, Augsburger Allgemeine - Supraregional / Magazin: Frank Patalong: „The Man in the Sea“, Spiegel, Special Issue „Less is More“ and Online: Heinz Bück, redACtionsbureau, „Offshore in the Otherworld“.

Picture galery of the 41st Irish Night

The winning contribution was inspired by our visit of the Aran Islands during our summer reportage. We went at the time to many islands of the Green Isle, sometimes even into the North Atlantic and often enough in really rough seas. But we were at all times at fantastically remote locations, truly “offshore in a different world”. The subject inspired me greatly and gave me nothing but joy, also later when writing about it. True happiness - devoid of rational reasoning – is a kind of magic which can be experienced and grasped with the senses in those remote corners of the world and opens up to all those who have remained receptive for the magic of time and space, their visible synchronicity, and the beauty of a nature that is meanwhile in jeopardy.

Read the most beautiful stories of our Irish escapes since the first online reports from 2013 collected under  „Irische Tage“.

For me, travel journalism has meanwhile received an ecological dimension: not only to awaken a sense of discovery purely out of enthusiasm, respect and appreciation for this beautiful world, but to also activate our care and protection instinct. Because at the time of man-made global warming, this wonderful world needs our help more than ever before. Nature is not a backdrop just for the tourism industry! And the environment we all are, whether with or against each other. The climate change has become obvious to everybody, even in human relations, not to speak of political ones. So please, take care! The earth needs us. And we need insight.

The happiness and the magic of our world is especially well demonstrated by the second station of our island trip: I like it best from this island excursion. The seaside promenade on Inis Oírr amidst waterlogged karst land is a shiny example of this "Otherworld" and its magic.

To the [Ufer]promenade

My thanks goes to all of our friends and so many true supporters. First of all to Sigrid Schusser who shares my desire for this marvelouse world. Without her it would be unpossible to me to realise all these wonderful escapades at the edges of our magnificent Europe. Thanks to my colleagues, our readers and followers, to our partners and sponsors of many years, the editors, the representatives of the ferry operators, national trusts and tourist associations, and especially to our many friends in Ireland, the Irish Caravan und Camping Council whose guests we were and enjoyed being. Our thanks also go to Pádraigín Clancy from OPW who helped us find our way in the spirituality of Dun Angus and the magic of the Otherworld and who explained the social impact of the Gaelic language and the living landscapes of the Celtic world. “The Celtic Ways” remains a topic that joins us together.

Coming soon The Celtic Ways: Isles of Scilly - Around Ireland - Dartmoor - Shetland Islands