Drum roll please.
One month and just over 163,000 votes later, the time has come to reveal the winners of the JOE Men of the Year Awards for 2015, starting with the Daddy of them all, the JOE Man of the Year sponsored by Virgin Media.
When we first put this particular category to a vote, we had no idea how it would pan out, such were the huge claims of every individual to the award.
Paul O’Connell led Ireland to a successive Six Nations title. Rory O’Neill, AKA Panti Bliss, was the face of one of the most important referendums in Irish history.
Conor McGregor has just become the UFC Featherweight Champion of the World. Shane Long put the ball in the Germans net and no man did more to get the Irish soccer team to the Euros than our late entry, Jon Walters.
In the end, you decided that another contender was worthy of the award, a man whose music has taken the world by storm in the last 12 months.
1.5 million copies of his debut album sold. A Grammy nomination for Song of the Year. Song of the Year at the BBC Music Awards. A sold-out UK Tour. Incredibly well-received live performances on huge US TV shows and a special duet with Annie Lennox at the Grammys.
The thoroughly deserving winner of the 2015 JOE Man of the Year award sponsored by Virgin Media is Andrew Hozier-Byrne.
Here he is, taking a break from his rehearsals in Dublin, receiving his awards (more on the second one later), in textbook Junior B GAA style, from JOE editor, Paddy McKenna…
… and he was good enough to give us an acceptance speech and send us a nice tweet as well…
Huge thanks @JOEdotie and everyone who voted for Best Music Act and Man Of The Year! Absolute Titans in the lineup. pic.twitter.com/19bJP0WCs7
— Hozier (@Hozier) December 22, 2015
Congratulations Hozier, here’s to even more success in 2016.
Make sure to keep an eye on our Facebook page as we reveal the winners of the remaining Men of the Year categories this evening.
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