Winner of RTÉ’s Eye on Nature announced on Nationwide

Limerick’s Daniel Meehan’s photo of a rabbit wins Eye On Nature 2023 trophy and cash prize.

A beautiful photograph of a rabbit licking its paw, taken by Daniel Meehan from Murroe in County Limerick, was unveiled as the winner of RTÉ’s Eye on Nature on Nationwide on Friday 23rd June.

Filmed at the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland, Nationwide was presented by Anne Cassin and Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh. They announced Daniel Meehan as the 2023 winner of the Eye on Nature trophy and a cash prize of €1,000.

On his win, Daniel, who works as a medical device engineer, said: “I’m stunned. The quality of the photographs in the final are unbelievable. I’m shocked and I can’t get my head around the fact that my photo has been chosen as the best one. When I look at the other photos they are works of art.” 

He added: “I’ve been taking photos for the last six years, but I’ve only really gotten good since Covid when we were all locked up with nothing else to do.” 

Daniel took the winning photo last summer. He said: “I was outside one morning close to my house. I was sitting in the shade, and I’d my camera on me. This rabbit didn’t seem to take much notice of me and started licking itself. It was a golden opportunity, and I took it. I took a lot of photos and that was the best of them.” 

Daniel’s photograph was chosen from ten photographs that made the final of RTÉ’s Eye on Nature which is a partnership between RTÉ’s Nationwide, Mooney Goes Wild on RTÉ Radio 1 and the Office of Public Works (OPW) at the National Botanic Gardens of Ireland.

The final ten photos and the winner of the competition were chosen by this year’s judging panel: Director of National Botanic Gardens of Ireland Dr Matthew Jebb, Niall Hatch from Birdwatch Ireland and award-winning nature-photographer Sheena Jolley. Derek Mooney spoke to all the finalists on Mooney Goes Wild on RTÉ Radio 1 on Monday, 19th June. Listen back: https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/mooney/programmes/2023/0619/1390089-mooney-goes-wild-monday-19-june-2023/

An online gallery featuring the 10 finalists’ photographs is available at rte.ie/eyeonnature The 10 finalists photos are on display at the National Botanic Gardens and the exhibition is scheduled to travel to other OPW sites later this year.