An audio documentary prompted by a photograph of people being restrained by police as they attempted to leave Lima in Peru to avoid Covid-19 has won the 2021 Mary Mulvihill Award. DCU postgraduate student Eoin Murphy, from Ennis, Co Clare, won the top prize of €2,000 in the science media competition for third-level students with “an urgent and moving audio documentary” called Black Market Oxygen – The Peru Project, which examined contrasting experiences of Ireland and Peru during the pandemic. The documentary, which Mr Murphy 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 judges found. “Virus” in its broadest sense was the theme of this year’s awards which commemorate the legacy of science journalist and author Mary Mulvihill, a regular contributor to The Irish Times. “The judges were greatly impressed with the volume and variety of this year’s entries,” said Anne Mulvihill, a sister of Mary’s and member of the judging panel.

Source: The Irish Times May 27, 2021 17:23 UTC