Irishmen awarded

Ireland honoured their National Champions of 2007 at a prestigious gala lunch held at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport Hotel last week.

The lunch was attended by personalities spanning more than half a century of historic achievement in the sport.

Junior World Rally Championship driver and FIA Rookie Champion, Shaun Gallagher from Letterkenny, was voted by the Motorsport media as the International Driver of the Year and winner of the Manley Memorial Trophy.

Rally Ireland promoter Ronan Morgan won the Ivan Webb Memorial Trophy for his outstanding contribution to the sport, both as a competitor and an organiser over many years.

Announcing the awards, John Naylor, President of Motorsport Ireland, expressed his pride in all that the sport has achieved in the past year, including the very successful running of Ireland's first round of the FIA World Rally Championship last month.