DCU student Eoin Murphy winner of the 2021 Mary Mulvihill Award

Eoin, a student on DCU’s M.Sc. in Science and Health Communication programme, won the top prize for an urgent and moving audio documentary, ‘Black Market Oxygen – The Peru Project’, which examined the contrasting experiences of Ireland and Peru during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The documentary, which Eoin wrote and narrated, is a stark reminder that old age and underlying conditions are not the only factors that exacerbate vulnerabilities to COVID-19.

“The incredible speed of innovation, which the scientific community has demonstrated since the beginning of 2020, will only be truly realised in years to come,” Eoin notes. “But what is already clear to see is that the inequality which exists around the world means that the poorest nations are being left behind in their battle to combat the spread of COVID-19.”

You can listen to the documentary here

Matthew Thomas, who is graduating this summer from TCD’s B.A. in Molecular Medicine programme, received the judges’ highly commended award for an essay entitled ‘Compromised: Lessons learned from the AIDS epidemic’. This traced the story of that earlier epidemic from the first cases of unusual infections and cancers in gay men to the desperate search to identify the causative agent and develop effective drug therapies against it. 

Mary Mulvihill Awards

Now in its fifth year, the competition invited entries this year on the theme of Virus. Entrants were encouraged to consider the concept in its broadest sense. 

The awards were established by the family and friends of the late Mary Mulvihill to honour her memory and her work in science journalism, science communication and heritage, and to promote her legacy. It administers and awards funds to support projects that commemorate her work and its significance. 

“The judges were greatly impressed with the volume and variety of this year’s entries,” said Anne Mulvihill, a sister of Mary’s and a member of the judging panel from the inception of the competition. “Eoin Murphy’s excellent audio piece was a unanimous winner and, given that Mary did a lot of audio work, it’s additionally fitting that the piece is in this medium. There was also consensus amongst the judges on giving the highly commended award to Matthew Thomas’s strong essay. We congratulate both winners and send our thanks and appreciation to all the entrants who took part in this year’s competition.”

The judges for the Mary Mulvihill Award 2021

Ellen Byrne, Creative director and founder, Festival of Curiosity

Karlin Lillington, Irish Times technology journalist and columnist

Nigel Monaghan, Keeper, National Museum of Ireland - Natural History 

Anne Mulvihill, Sister of Mary Mulvihill      

Cliona O’Farrelly, Professor of Comparative Immunology, Trinity College Dublin.

About Eoin Murphy

A native of Ennis, County Clare, Eoin Murphy is a biochemist, a passionate science communicator and an educator. He currently combines his work as a part-time student on DCU’s MSc. in Science and Health Communication with his role as a teacher of biology, mathematics and general science in Ballinrobe Community School, in Ballinrobe, County Galway.

Dublin City University and Mary Mulvihill

In 2020, Dublin City University announced that Mary Mulvihill, the acclaimed author, broadcaster and science writer, was to be honoured with a posthumous DCU Alumni Award for Outstanding Achievement in the area of Societal Impact.

The special award was presented to her family at DCU’s annual Alumni Awards Ceremony.

Mary, a graduate of DCU’s School of Communications, was a well known advocate for increasing greater female participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

In 1990, she was the founder and first chairperson of the advocacy group, Women in Technology and Science (WITS).

Through her journalism for RTÉ and The Irish Times and through her writing, Mary demonstrated her passion for communicating the importance of science. Her publications such as the popular science book Ingenious Ireland helped to build society’s understanding and appreciation of STEM-related matters. Mary’s family recently made the decision to donate her papers to DCU.

The papers are preserved by DCU Library as part of its Media History Collection, along with other significant figures in Irish journalism such as Mary Raftery and Douglas Gageby.

The collection focuses on Mary's painstaking research into the first edition of Ingenious Ireland, with comprehensive digitised and print background materials, and a collection of around 200 specialised books on science and natural history in Ireland.