Honours and Acknowledgments

1978 Melody Maker Folk Album of the Year for ‘Welcome Here Kind Stranger’

1979 ICAD (Institute of Creative Advertising and Design) ‘Best Original Music’ award

THE STAG/ HOT PRESS AWARDS (Ireland’s leading music paper, critics awards)

1981 Best Single ‘Crazy Dreams’
1982 Best Song ‘Nothing But The Same Old Story’
1985 Best Songwriter
1986 Best Songwriter and Best Male Singer

1986 ‘Opel’ National Entertainment Awards ‘Best Rock Artist’

THE HOT PRESS READERS POLL

1980
Best Folk/Traditional artist
2nd Best Male Singer
3rd Best Instrumentalist
4th Best Single “Crazy Dreams”
5th Best Songwriter

1983
3rd Best Male Singer
4th Best Songwriter
5th Best Album ‘True For You’1984
2nd Best Male Singer
3rd Best Songwriter

1986
Best Songwriter
Best Album ‘Back To The Centre’

1991
EMA awards (Belfast Telegraph Entertainment Media and Arts Awards) ‘Best Solo Rock Artist’

1993
IRMA Irish Music Awards ‘Best Irish Male Artist’

2000
‘Irish Music Magazine’ award for Best Contemporary Album ‘Oh What A World’

2002
IRMA Irish Recorded Music Awards  ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’
The ASCAP ‘#1 Club Award’ on Brooks & Dunn reaching No 1 in USA with ‘The Long Goodbye’ written by Paul Brady & Ronan Keating

2004
British Academy of Songwriters and Composers ‘Gold Badge Award’

2006
BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards “Lifetime Achievement Award”

2009
Conferred with Honorary D. Litt at University of Ulster
Chosen as Irish ‘artist of the year’ by Galway University Foundation

2010
‘Paul Brady Scholarship’ announced at University College Limerick
‘Tenco Prize’ for songwriting at the Rassegna Della Canzone D’Autore, Sanremo, Italy

2011
‘Illustrissimus’ Award from my old school St Columb’s College, Derry

2013
Inducted to the IMRO Academy2015
‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ from The National Concert Hall, Dublin, Ireland presented by The President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins

2021 Conferred with Honorary D. Litt at UCL University College Limerick