JOE Men of the Year Awards 2016: The winners

The votes are in...

Thousands of you took to the polls to salute the men who, individually or as part of a collective, provided some glimmer of light in what has been a pretty gloomy 12 months. There were plenty of categories across a variety of different fields, but it did give us scope to pay tribute to a wide selection of Irish men who have given us reason to cheer over the last year, from the winner of the Man of the Year to a man whose exploits on the way home from a night out in Offaly entertained many across the nation. You can check out the winners and the voting patterns of every category below, but the winner of the main category, Blindboy Boatclub of the Rubberbandits, is worthy of special mention at this juncture. It was our privilege to have worked with Blindboy at two JOE mental health events in 2016, events during which he showed, as he did on the Late Late Show, that he really is one of the most influential voices of his generation. If his work in that sphere wasn’t enough, The Rubberbandits' Guides has been hailed as one of the best things RTÉ have done in ages and we’re sure to see plenty more of Blindboy and of the Rubberbandits in 2017 and beyond. A hearty congratulations to Blindboy and to all the category winners and a massive thanks to you, the JOE readers for voting. Here’s to a very merry Christmas and to a cracking 2017.

Man of the Year - BLINDBOY BOATCLUB

Viral Internet Hero of the Year - JOEY TROY

Footballer of the Year - DARYL HORGAN

GAA Player of the Year - LEE KEEGAN

Rugby Player of the Year - BUNDEE AKI

Rising Star of 2016 - BRILLIANT SHANE

Media Personality of the Year - DERMOT AND DAVE

Best Music Act of the Year - PICTURE THIS

Funnyman of the Year - FOIL ARMS AND HOG

Irish Actor of the Year - JAMIE DORNAN

Team of the Year - CONNACHT RUGBY

Sports Star of the Year - CONOR MCGREGOR