RORY MCILROY HAS been named the RTÉ Sports Person of the Year for the second time.

The 25-year old – who recently finished second to Lewis Hamilton at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year – had a phenomenal year winning two Majors, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the Race to Dubai.

Indeed, during the course of 12 rounds – 11 of which he played in fewer than 70 shots – in three weeks this summer, McIlroy won the British Open, his first World Golf Championship event and the USPGA Championship with an aggregate total of 48 under par.

Unsurprisingly, McIlroy – who also won this award in 2011 – finished the year on top of both the US PGA Tour and European Tour money lists.

The undisputed world number one, McIlroy confirmed in June that he would represent Ireland at the 2016 Olympic Games and told RTÉ in an interview ahead of the Sports Awards:

“I never dreamed of being an Olympic athlete or winning a gold medal but now that’s that a possibility, I’m going to embrace that.

McIlroy beat the likes of Katie Taylor, Jonathan Sexton, Niamh Briggs and Carl Frampton to the award.

Joe Schmidt was rewarded for a successful year with Ireland. Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO

Earlier, Ireland rugby coach Joe Schmidt was tonight named the Manager of the Year having guided Ireland to Six Nations glory in March before orchestrating a clean sweep of the November Internationals against South Africa, Georgia and Australia.

Those wins saw Ireland move up to third in the world, their highest ever ranking.

The recently retired Brian O’Driscoll was presented with the RTÉ/Irish Sports Council Hall of Fame award after a stellar career in which he captained Leinster, Ireland and the Lions as well as winning the Six Nations twice and three Heineken Cups.

After accepting the award O’Driscoll was visibly moved but joked – referencing Ireland’s unbeaten record in November – “little did I know I was holding the team back.”

The Cork ladies football team, who picked up their ninth All-Ireland in 10 seasons in 2014, were named as the Team of the Year after a public vote.

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