Former Times of Malta journalist Kim Dalli was nominated among the finalists of the EU's European Journalist Award for Diversity 

Ms Dalli was nominated for a story she wrote in 2014 entitled Lack of education fuels sense of Islamophobia. The three overall winners were journalists from Croatia, Spain and Germany.

She received the certificate in Dublin presented by Lina Papamichalopoulou, Head of Unit Non-discrimination Policies at the European Commission.

The European Journalist Award on Diversity recognises excellent journalism that promotes diversity and raises awareness of discrimination in the EU.

The twin objectives of the award are to break social mis-perceptions and stereotyping of religious minorities in Europe and to foster tolerance and social acceptance of religious groups at risk of discrimination through the media.

It also aims to portray positive images of religious minorities based on real stories of economic or social contributions of this group to society, as well as successful examples of integration.

In Ms Dalli's article, Muslims residing in Malta had spoken about the way barbaric acts of terrorism coupled with a lack of education on the true meaning of Islam were fuelling a sense of Islamophobia.