John O'Mahony and Michael 'Babs' Keating will tonight be inducted into the Gaelic Writers' Association (GWA) Hall of Fame.

In addition, Tyrone's Sean Cavanagh has been selected as the 2017 Football Personality of the Year with Galway captain David Burke winning the hurling accolade.

Journalist Martán Ó Ciardha will also be amongst those honoured tonight in Dublin's Jackson Court Hotel, the Galway native receiving the GWA Lifetime Achievement Award. Kilkenny's Seamus Reade will pick up the PRO of the Year accolade.

About the winners:

John O'Mahony and Michael 'Babs' Keating are the latest additions to the Hall of Fame - following in the footsteps of last year's winners Pat Spillane and Ger Loughnane.

O'Mahony is one of the most successful managers in the history of Gaelic Football. His managerial career started with his native Mayo when he led the county's U-21s to the All-Ireland title in 1983.

Subsequently appointed senior team manager, he brought Mayo to their first All-Ireland Final in 38 years when they were narrowly beaten by Cork in the 1989 decider.

In 1994, he managed Leitrim to their first Connacht Senior Championship since 1927, but it was with Galway he had his greatest success, leading them to All-Ireland Senior Championship wins in 1998 and 2001.

Michael 'Babs' Keating is a legendary figure in Tipperary hurling both for his achievements as a player and a manager.

He won three All-Ireland titles as a player with the Premier County - in 1964, 1965, and, latterly, in 1971 when he was also crowned Texaco Hurler of the Year.

As manager, he took Tipperary out of the doldrums by leading them to their first Munster Championship in 16 years in 1987, and would subsequently go on to manage the Premier County to All-Ireland wins in 1989 and 1991.

The Football Personality of the Year award goes to Sean Cavanagh, who brought the curtain down on his incredible career after Tyrone's All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Dublin this year.

A three-time All-Ireland winner, five-time All-Star, and Footballer of the Year in 2008, Cavanagh also holds the highest number of championship appearances for an outfield player in the history of the game with 89.

Galway hurling captain David Burke gets the Hurling Personality of the Year accolade after a season that saw him lead Galway to a National League and Championship double.

It was a first All-Ireland senior title for the Tribesmen in 29 years, and Burke played a pivotal role in it. They speech he made after lifting the Liam MacCarthy Cup will live long in the memory too.

This year's GWA Lifetime Achievement award goes to Martán Ó Ciardha. A native of Cois Fharraige in Galway, Ó Ciardha was a highly respected sports journalist for Raidió na Gaeltachta for 31 years.

The 2017 PRO of the Year is Kilkenny's Seamus Reade. The Thomastown man has been Kilkenny PRO for the last five years and throughout that time his co-operation and professionalism when dealing with the media was unfailing. 

Join us on Sunday for our Live Match Tracker with minute-by-minute updates from eighteen county finals plus Kilcoo versus Slaughtneil.

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