An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir April 2018 www.dfmagazine.ie 8 | 8 | By Sgt WAynE FItzgERAlD gRouP PhotoS By CPl nEvIllE CoughlAn Lt Gen MJ CosteLLo O n 7th March 2018, we presented the inaugural An Cosantóir/JM Publishing Sponsored lt gen MJ Costello awards for 2017. these awards are made in recognition of the recipients' excellent contributions to the magazine. An Cosantóir was first published in 1940 by Lt Gen Michael Joseph (MJ) Costello (OC Southern Command) as a newsletter for the troops. Its purpose was to provide a medium to dissem- inate official views and provide instruction to members of the Command. After the Emergency, An Cosantóir was adopted as the single official publication for the Defence Forces, develop- ing over the decades from a weekly to a monthly A5 pamphlet, and then on today's 40-page, full-colour, A4 magazine, which has 10 issues per year and a readership estimated at 25,000. The introduction of these awards was made possible through the continued support of Mr Joseph Nazari, manag- ing director of our current design and publication company, JM Publishing & Design, who have been working with us since May 2011. The 2017 award recipients were CPO/ERA Ruairi De Barra (LÉ Samuel Beckett) and CQMS (AR) Michael Barrett (D Coy, 7 Inf Bn) cPo/Era ruairi de Barra was presented with the award for 'Best Article 2017', for his article 'Rebuilding Somalia', which appeared in our May issue and received wide circulation in the national media, including being republished in Emergency Services Ireland. The article was nominated by An Cosantóir for the prestigious European Military Press Association's (EMPA) best article award in 2017, which brought it to an international audience, where it was picked up and reprinted by Combat, the Australian military magazine. The article looked at international efforts to support the Somali government in combating piracy and lawlessness off their coast, and featured former Naval Service officer, Chris Reynolds, current Director of the Irish Coast Guard, who was on secondment to EUCAP Somalia as Head of Operations. Ruairi has contributed seven articles to An Cosantóir over the last two years. cQMs (ar) Michael Barrett was presented with the award for 'Best Contributor 2017', in appreciation of his continued contributions to the magazine, with 17 articles submitted over a 22-year period. These articles started back in 1996, when, as a young reservist, then Cpl Michael Barrett, A Coy, 20 Inf Bn, wrote 'FCA Platoon Goes Underground', which looked at his unit's defensive exercise during their annual camp in the Glen of Imaal. Michael's regular submission of articles and high-quality photographs over the subsequent years have made him a valued asset to An Cosantóir, helping us to stay current and up to date with what's happening on the ground. In addition, his articles and photographs help to record how the RDF has evolved over the last two decades. It is also very fitting that both recipients have articles ap- pearing in this issue. We thank them for their contributions and we hope to see much, much more from Ruairi and Michael in the issues to come. If you are interested in submitting an article please see our Tac-Aide on how to do this on the inside back cover of this issue. Maybe you could be next year's winner of the Lt Gen MJ Costello Award. Lt Gen MJ Costello Pictured L/R: Comdt Colin Lawlor, Manager of An Cosantóir, Mr Joseph Nazari, MD of JM Publishing & Design, CPO/ERA Ruairi De Barra, CQMS (AR) Michael Barrett, Mr Brian Costello, grandson of Lt Gen MJ Costello and Sgt Wayne Fitzgerald, Editor of An Cosantóir. Our 2017 Award winners: CQMS (AR) Michael Barrett (D Coy, 7 Inf Bn) and CPO/ERA Ruairi De Barra (LÉ Samuel Beckett).

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