Trinity Musical Theatre (TMT) swept the competition at the Society of the Year awards last night, taking home three awards.
The society won Best Medium Society and Best Overall Society at the award ceremony in the Radisson Blu last night.
Carrie the Musical music director Erica O’Reilly was also awarded Best Individual.
TMT received eight nominations at this year’s Society of the Year Awards, compared to zero last year.
Chairperson Lily Kate Hearns thanked her committee for the award: “It is only because of their organisation that we have had the time to focus and achieve the goals that we set to achieve at the beginning of the year.”
“Having great friendships and being able to have the opportunity to achieve things like this with people you have great friendships with is a surreal experience.”
In the category for Best Individual, the CSC broke tradition and awarded two winners to honour Jack O’Grady from the Vincent De Paul (VDP) society, who passed away unexpectedly in August 2023.
The Best Small Society award was taken home by Cancer Society, perhaps best-known for their annual Naked Calendar which features members of various societies to raise money to be donated to cancer research.
The Best Large Society was awarded to LawSoc.
Fashion Soc was twice commended for its visual identity, winning both Best Online Presence and Best Poster.
Photo by Rory Chinn for Trinity NewsThe Society of the Year Awards gives recognition to societies and members who were said to go above and beyond both within their society and the Trinity community.
The evening was opened by a short speech by Provost Linda Doyle who commented on the strength and teamwork of societies during the Dublin riots in November of last year in working together to help support students stuck on campus.
Doyle told Trinity News: “There is no Trinity without the societies as they are such a large part of the student experience in the most amazing way.”
“I am truly day after day impressed when I meet people from different societies and what they are doing, especially the night of the riots in what was a terrible evening for Dublin and Ireland.”
CSC Chair Samuel Isijola also commended the spirit and strength of societies, stating that society life is the most essential part of Trinity college culture, and recognised the work of the officers, executives, and staff in making the year and evening possible.
Speaking to Trinity News, Isijola commended the improvements made by CSC staff this year in improving the nomination and selection process of awards and hoped that next year’s committee will continue that same spirit.
“All that we can do and all that we will do is continue to listen to students and the societies and remember that we are there to cater for them. The CSC is here for the societies, that’s it. We are not for anyone else, and without the societies and their hard work there wouldn’t be a CSC.”
The College Historical Society (the Hist) also took home two awards Tuesday evening in the categories Best Multi-day Event, for their Guinness World Record competition and celebration week, and Best Society Trip, for their journey to Belfast to debate in Stormont.
The Society’s Choice award, a recognition entirely decided by the vote of society members present at the event, was given to the Afro-Caribbean Society (ACS).
President of the ACS, Yisola Amzat, said in response to their win: “It feels like our hard work has paid off to help bring awareness to ACS. It is so wholesome to be able to put ourselves out there and see that our efforts are seen by other societies.”
Full list of winners:
Best Event: Trinity College Singers – 75th Anniversary Concert
Best Multi-day Event: The Historical Society – Guinness World Record Celebration Week
Best Collaborative Event: Vincent De Paul (VDP) – Jailbreak
Sustainability Award: DUCSS – Tech Exchange Program
Best Publication: Politics Society – STANCE
Best Society Trip: The Historical Society – Belfast trip
Best Online Presence: Fashion Society
Best Individual: Erica O’Reilly – Trinity Musical Theatre AND Jack O’Grady – VDP
Best Poster: Fashion Society – Trinity Fashion Show Primavera
Best Fresher: Alissa Yeung – Japanese Society
Disability Inclusion Award: DU Neurodiversity (DUNeS)
Best Small Society: Cancer Society
Best Medium Society: Trinity Musical Theatre
Best Large Society: Law Society
Best Society Overall: Trinity Musical Theatre
Society’s Choice: Afro-Caribbean Society
