The Irish Internet Association has announced the winners of it's Annual Net Visionary Awards at a gala function held in the Mansion House, Dublin.
Speaking at the awards IIA Chairman, Colm Lyon, Founder and MD of Realex Payments, said that the Irish Internet Industry was capable of transforming the Irish economy and that many Irish businesses were now engaged in the internet in a global fashion. These awards are an excellent barometer of the level of activity in the internet industry. This year it was great to see more regionalisation of award winners, more newcomers and more enterprises thinking beyond the norm in terms of their internet ambitions.
The awards received over 300 nominations and over 50,000 votes, a massive increase on last year. The awards are unique in that they are nominated and voted upon by members of the public.
Lorcan O’Sullivan from Enterprise Ireland, the Awards sponsor, said: “There is a new breed of Irish company that is harnessing the ongoing potential of the Internet as a medium without boundaries. The nominees and winners of the IIA Net Visionary Awards are testament to the creativity and calibre of those involved in the industry today. On behalf of Enterprise Ireland, I would like to congratulate all on their achievements. We sponsored this event in the hope that it would highlight role models that other Irish people working on the internet could usefully seek to emulate. The calibre of the winners fully justifies that hope”.
The full list of winners is listed below;
| Category | Winner | Company |
| Best Blogger | denise cox | Newsweaver |
| Best Online Banking | Mary Dillon | Bank of Ireland |
| Best Podcaster | Colm Hanratty | Hostelworld |
| Educational Contribution | Sr Mary Corr | St Raphaelas Primary School |
| e-Government | Gerry O'Malley | Motor Tax |
| Innovation | Kevin Gill | NewAddress.ie |
| Internet Entrepreneur | Lulu O'Sullivan | 4GiftsDirect.com |
| Internet Marketer | Martin O'Leary | RaboDirect |
| Mobile Internet | Emer Conlon | RTĖ Aertel Mobile |
| Online Trader | Alan Stapleton | WhatCar.ie |
| Social Contribution | Niall O'Connor | Ireland.com |
| Technology Journalist | Damien Mulley | Sunday Tribune |
| Web Designer Excellence | Gillian McAuliffe | IrishJobs.ie |
| Web Developer Excellence | Ronan Smith | Pigsback.com |
Overall Net Visionary Fergus Burns - Nooked.com
Colm Lyon added that the Board of Directors had selected Fergus Burns of Nooked.com as the overall Net Visionary for 2007 as he, and his team, have developed the a leading and innovative feedcommerce platform and successfully brought it to the global marketplace.