Business & Finance Awards

Golden Globe winner Gabriel Byrne to accept 2023 TK Whitaker Award for outstanding contribution to public life

By Business & Finance
17 August 2023

Renowned actor to accept 2023 TK Whitaker accolade at the Business & Finance Awards in Dublin this December

The 2023 Business & Finance Awards in association with KPMG has today announced that Golden Globe winner Gabriel Byrne will accept the 2023 TK Whitaker Award which takes place on Friday, 8th December 2023, at the Convention Centre in Dublin.

The award recognises his unique contribution to public life during an illustrious career spanning almost five decades.

Over 1,000 business, political and social leaders along with representatives from the international arts community will attend the Gala event in December.

Gabriel Byrne has starred in more than 100 feature films including Excalibur, Miller’s Crossing, Into the West, Little Women, The Usual Suspects, The Man in the Iron Mask, and many more. On Broadway, he received 3 Tony Award nominations and has twice won the Outer Critics Circle Award for his performances in the works of Eugene O’Neill.

On the small screen, Gabriel Byrne won a Golden Globe Award in 2008 for his lead role in HBO’s In Treatment, while recent TV appearances include acclaimed roles in Vikings and the 2019 adaptation of HG Wells’ The War of The Worlds. He has been nominated for 3 Emmy awards.

His memoir Walking With Ghosts, in which he recalls his journey from working-class roots in Dublin to Hollywood stardom, was published in 2021. He later adapted this work into a highly acclaimed one-man show. It opened in the Gaiety Theatre Dublin and later in London’s West End and Broadway. 

He is proud to have been a co-founder of The New Irish Arts Centre in New York, a project that took 20 years and 80 million dollars to complete. Since its inception it has now become one of the city’s most prestigious cultural venues.

The TK Whitaker Award was established in 2016 to mark the 100th birthday of Dr. Thomas Kenneth (TK) Whitaker, the economist and civil servant credited with playing a pivotal role in Ireland’s economic development. It recognises Irish and international political and social leaders who have made a unique contribution to public life. President Michael D. Higgins became the first recipient in December 2016, followed by former Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD in 2017, and former President of Ireland, Mary McAleese in 2018.

In 2019 the Award was presented to filmmaker and environmentalist David Puttnam, while in 2021 the winners were John & Pat Hume, in posthumous recognition of their contribution to peace in Northern Ireland. This was presented to the Hume family by Bono. The 2023 honouree was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who accepted the award via video link.

Nominations for the 2023 Business & Finance Awards are still being accepted until the 28th of August. For further information or to submit a nomination, please visit the Business & Finance Awards website.

Commenting on being the recipient of the 2023 TK Whitaker Award, Gabriel Byrne said: “It is an honour to be chosen for the TK Whittaker award and to be aligned with such illustrious previous honourees.”

Speaking about Gabriel Byrne and the TK Whitaker Award, Ian Hyland, President & Publisher Business & Finance said: “We are delighted to recognise Gabriel as a most deserving recipient of the 2023 TK Whitaker Award for his incredible achievements across the globe and his Outstanding contribution and impact across the arts. We look forward to welcoming Gabriel home to Dublin to honour him in the name of another great patriot and global citizen, TK Whitaker.”


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