Malone among recipients at IRFU All Ireland League Rugby Awards evening in Dublin

The Belfast club's president, Stuart Duncan, received the Spirit Club of the Year award from Ireland senior head coach, Joe Schmidt, at the Aviva Stadium.

The award recognised Malone's work in promoting women’s rugby, mixed ability rugby and building ties with their community.

In all on Tuesday night, 17 awards were presented to players, coaches and volunteers from both the men’s and women’s game.

The Top Try Scorer across Division 1 of the AIL was Peter Sullivan with 15 tries for Lansdowne during the regular league season. In the Women’s AIL Galwegians’ Denise Redmond topped the try scoring charts with 8 tries.

Naas’ Peter Osborne was the Top Points Scorer across Division 1 of the AIL with 169 points across the regular league season. Niamh Briggs of UL Bohemians was the Top Points Scorer in the Women’s AIL with 88 points.

The AIL Try of the Season and Women’s AIL Try of the Season were decided by an online public vote of the monthly winners of the season long competition. The winner of the AIL Try of the Season is Malahide’s Daniel Hayes and the winner of the Women’s AIL Try of the Season is Stephanie Carroll (Railway Union RFC) - winning by just two votes from Cooke's Eliza Downey.

The Rising Star Awards across all five divisions of the AIL and the Women’s AIL were voted for by the coaches in the respective leagues nominating stand-out performers from opposition sides.

The Rising Star for AIL Div1a is UCC’s James Taylor who scored 150 points during the regular season and played a key role in maintaining UCC’s Div1a status. Enya Breen of UL Bohemians is the Women’s AIL Rising Star for 2018/19 in a season where she also made her international debut.

The AIL Rising Star Award in Div1b went to Jack Keating (Old Belvedere) who scored 13 tries and represented the Ireland Club side. In Div2a Highfield’s Dave O’Connell collected the AIL Rising Star award for his role in their successful promotion campaign to Div1b.

Barnhall’s Brendan McSorley picked up the AIL Rising Star Award in Div2b for his role in their unbeaten league campaign while he also represented the Irish Students side this season. In Div2c the AIL Rising Star award went to Ballina out-half Dylan Prendergast as they won promotion to Div2b.

The AIL Coach of the Year award went to Adrian Flavinof MU Barnhall. Barnhall secured promotion to Div2a winning all 18 of their league games this season. The Women’s AIL Coach of the Year award went to UL Bohemian’s Ben Martin. UL Bohs topped the regular league table, claimed the All Ireland Cup and narrowly lost out to Railway in the league final.

The PRO of the Year award went to Shannon RFC’s Katie McCloskey for her work in promoting the Club’s activity across traditional and digital platforms. The Volunteer of the Year Award went to Corinthians RFC’s Derek Niland for his work in promoting inclusion and the establishment of tag disability rugby. The Spirit Club of the Year award went toMalone RFC for their work in promoting women’s rugby, mixed ability rugby and building ties with their community.

2018/19 IRFU AIL Award Winners

AIL Division 1 Top Try Scorer: Peter Sullivan (Lansdowne FC)

Women’s AIL Top Try Scorer: Denise Redmond (Galwegians RFC)

AIL Division 1 Top Points Scorer: Peter Osborne (Naas RFC)

Women’s AIL Top Points Scorer: Niamh Briggs (UL Bohemains RFC)

AIL Div1a Rising Star Award: James Taylor (UCC RFC)

Women’s AIL Rising Star Award: Enya Breen (UL Bohemians RFC)

AIL Div1b Rising Star Award: Jack Keating (Old Belvedere RFC)

AIL Div2a Rising Star Award: Dave O’Connell (Highfield RFC)

AIL Div2b Rising Star Award: Brendan McSorley (MU Barnhall RFC)

AIL Div2c Rising Star Award: Dylan Prendergast (Ballina RFC)

AIL Coach of the Year: Adrian Flavin (MU Barnhall RFC)

Women’s AIL Coach of the Year: Ben Martin (UL Bohemians RFC

AIL Try of the Year: Daniel Hayes (Malahide RFC)

Women’s AIL Try of the Year: Stephanie Carroll (Railway Union RFC)

PRO of the Year: Katie McCloskey (Shannon RFC)

Volunteer of the Year: Derek Niland (Corinthians RFC)

Spirit Club of the Year: Malone RFC