The IFTA Award for Supporting Actor – Drama is an award presented annually by the Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA). It has been presented since the 3rd Irish Film & Television Awards ceremony in 2005 to an Irish actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role in television. For the first and second ceremonies, supporting performances for film and television were combined into one category.
The record for most wins is three, held by Stephen Rea. The record for most nominations is nine, held by Liam Cunningham, who has won the award once. Chris Walley is the award's most recent winner, for The Young Offenders (2025).
Eligibility The award is exclusively open to Irish actors. The rules define an Irish person as follows: Born in Ireland (32 counties) or Have Irish Citizenship or Be full-time resident in Ireland (minimum of 3 years)
Winners and nominees In the following table, the years are listed as the year of television. The first three ceremonies were held at the end of the year, but since the 4th Irish Film & Television Awards the ceremonies have generally been held the following year. As there was no ceremony in 2019, the 16th Irish Film & Television Awards covered a period of two years.
+ Table key ‡ Indicates the winner
2000s Year Actor Programme 2003(1st) Murphy's Law 2004(2nd) Holy Cross Proof 2005(3rd) Pure Mule 2006(4th) Murphy's Law Legend Showbands 2007(5th) Prosperity 2008(6th) George Gently 2009(7th) Father & Son Fair City Pure Mule: The Last Weekend Val Falvey, TD
2010s Year Actor Programme 2010(8th) Single-Handed Love/Hate Wild Decembers Fair City 2011(9th) Love/Hate Downton Abbey Game of Thrones Misfits 2012(10th) Sherlock Love/Hate Downton Abbey Moone Boy 2013(11th) Love/Hate Game of Thrones Downton Abbey 2014(12th) Love/Hate Game of Thrones Sherlock 2015(13th) Vikings Game of Thrones Dickensian War & Peace 2016(14th) Game of Thrones Vikings Fortitude 2017(15th) Game of Thrones Vikings Game of Thrones Paula Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2018/19(16th) Game of Thrones Chernobyl Killing Eve Blood Dublin Murders
2020s Year Actor Programme 2020/21(17th) Normal People Normal People Smother Gangs of London His Dark Materials 2021/22(18th) Kin Domina Kin Stay Close 2022/23(19th) Bad Sisters Conversations with Friends 2023(20th) Blue Lights Kin Foundation Hidden Assets Kin 2024(21st) Say Nothing Masters of the Air 3 Body Problem Bad Sisters Bodkin 2025(22d) House of Guinness Video Nasty Hidden Assets House of Guinness
Multiple awards and nominations The following individuals have received two or more Supporting Actor awards: Wins Actor Nominations 3 Stephen Rea 4 2 Tom Vaughan-Lawlor 3 Ciarán Hinds 2
The following individuals have received two or more Supporting Actor nominations: Nominations Actor 9 Liam Cunningham 5 Aidan Gillen 4 Moe Dunford Stephen Rea Gary Lydon Andrew Scott 3 Allen Leech Chris O'Dowd Tom Vaughan-Lawlor 2 Peter Coonan Ned Dennehy Brian Gleeson Ciarán Hinds Owen McDonnell Fionn O'Shea Owen Roe Robert Sheehan Michael Smiley Chris Walley
Notes
References
External links IFTA.ie (official IFTA website)