Listen to the 2008 series.

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Programme 33: 21 December 2008

A selection of past winners of the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition.

Would you like to see a photograph? by Betty Thompson which was 1st runner-up in the 2003 competition.

The judges described Betty's story as an extraordinary glimpse into two colliding urban worlds, controlled, poignant and unsentimental.

Read by Cathryn Brennan
Producer: Seamus Hosey

Programme 32: 14 December 2008

A selection of past winners of the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition.

LEMON CREAMS by Vincent McDonnell winner of the 2003 competition.

Read by Daniel Reardon
Producer: Seamus Hosey

Programme 31: 7 December 2008

A selection of past winners of the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition. Heaven by Jim Mullarkey, joint first runner-up in the 2002 competition.

Heaven is an imagistic evocation of a little boy's clarity and confusion on the day of his mother's funeral.

Read by Conor Lovett
Producer: Seamus Hosey

Programme 30: 30th November 2008

A selection of past winners of the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition.

Rebound by Lorraine Francis, joint first runner-up in the 2002 competition.

Read by Deirdre Monaghan
Producer: Seamus Hosey

Programme 29: 23rd November 2008

A selection of past winners of the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition.

The Wind Across The Grass by Nuala Ní Chonchuir, winner of the 2002 competition.

Programme 28: 16th November 2008

A selection of past winners of the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition.

JEALOUSY by Susan Knight, second runner-up in the 2001 competition.

Programme 27: 9th November 2008

A selection of past winners of the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition.

I am the Song - Sing Me by Elizabeth Carty, first runner-up in the 2001 competition.

Programme 26: 2nd November 2008

A selection of past winners of the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition.

Tonight's story is Dipping Into The Darkness by Maire MacSweeney.

Read by Daniel Reardon, winner of the competition in 2001.

Programme 25: 26th October 2008

A selection of past winners of the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition.

THE HANGING TREES by Ruth Le Goff, winner of the competition in 2000

Read by Colette Proctor

Programme 24: 19th October 2008

A selection of past winners of the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition.

STAY CLOSE TO THE WATER'S EDGE, winner of the second prize in the competition in 1999.

Programme 23: 12th October 2008

This evening, the first in a selection of past winners of the Francis MacManus Short Story Competition.

Love by Ivy Banninster, winner of the competition in 1999.

Programme 22: 5th October 2008

This evening's story is entitled The Bookies Runner by Ciaran Folan from a selection of short listed entries to this year's competition. In the final short story from the Francis MacManus series, a mild flirtation during the Northern Ireland 'Troubles' proves a lethal cocktail.

Programme 21: 28th September 2008

Waiting by the Lutétia by Mairide Woods

Read by Liz Lloyd.

Produced by Gerry McArdle.

Programme 20: 21st September 2008

An Uneven Event by Vincent Scott.

Produced by Gerry McArdle.

Programme 19: 14th September 2008

Wilderness Gothic by Kevin Power.

Read by Daragh Kelly. Produced by Gerry McArdle.

Programme 18: 7th September 2008

First Friday by Denis O'Neill.

Read by Daniel Reardon. Produced by Gerry McArdle.

Programme 17: 31st August 2008

This evening's story is entitled One Hundred Strokes by Mary O'Gorman from a selection of short listed entries to this year's competition.

Reader: Collette Proctor
Producer: Gerry McArdle

Programme 16: 24th August 2008

This evening's story is entitled Walking Away by Philip Ó Ceallaigh from a selection of short listed entries to this year's competition.

Read by Michael Grennell
Producer: Gerry McArdle

Programme 15: 17th August 2008

This evening's story is entitled Where's the Party? by Judith Mok from a selection of short listed entries to this year's competition.

Programme 14: 10th August 2008

This evening's story is entitled The Blue Olive Tree by Thalia Miller from a selection of short listed entries to this year's competition.

Programme 13: 3rd August 2008

This evening's story is entitled Wasp's Nest by Alys Meiriol from a selection of short listed entries to this year's competition.

Programme 12: 27th July 2008

This evening's story is entitled DROWNING by Ruth McKee from a selection of short listed entries to this year's competition.

Producer: Seamus Hosey

Programme 11: 20th July 2008
A BRIEF LOVE FOR ROWANBERRIES by David Andrew McIlroy from a selection of short listed entries to this year's competition

The reader is Miche Doherty.
Producer: Seamus Hosey

Programme 10: 13th July 2008
This evening's story is called Dustwoman by James Martyn from a selection of short listed entries to this year's competition.

Read by Enda Oates
Producer: Seamus Hosey

Programme 9: 6th July 2008
This evening's story is called God of Little by Gerard Lee from a selection of short listed entries to this year's competition.

Read by the author
Producer: Seamus Hosey

Programme 8: 22nd June 2008

This evening's story is called Thirsty by Kevin Gildea. Read by the author Kevin Gildea.

Programme 7: 15th June 2008

This evening's story is called Father Feeney's March of the Blessed by Richard Gibney from a selection of short listed entries to this year's competition.

Read by David Coakley

Programme 6: 8th June 2008

This evening's story is called "Crochet" by John Austin Connolly, from a selection of short listed entries to this year's competition

Producer: Seamus Hosey

Programme 5: 1st June 2008

This evening's story is called 'Watchman, What of the Night'? by Elizabeth Carty, from a selection of short listed entries to this year's competition.

Producer: Seamus Hosey

Programme 4: 25th May 2008

This evening's story is called OLD BIKE by Jackie Blackman from a selection of short listed entries to this year's competition.

Producer: Seamus Hosey

Programme 3: 18th May 2008

THE MAN WITH NO NAME by Gerry Boland, the third prize-winning story.

Gerry hails from Co. Roscommon has had poems published in 'The Stinging Fly, The Shop Southword' and other magazines including 'Quadrant' in Brisbane. His story, 'The Caller' was published by West 47 Online last year. He has had two books about Dublin published, both by Gill and Macmillan - 'A Pocket Guide to Dublin' and 'A Stroller's Guide to Dublin'. He is a regular visitor to the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig where he wrote his award winning 'The Man with No Name'.

Read by Sean Rocks
Producer: Seamus Hosey

Programme 2: 11th May 2008

LOSER by Eileen Counihan, the second prize-winning story. Eileen has been writing all her life but has only recently started to take it seriously. 'Loser' is her second story to be published or broadcast. In 2003 she completed an MA in Women's Studies in UCD where she worked in the library for a number of years. She currently works as a freelance PR consultant and has a partner and three children.

Read by Sarah Brennan Producer: Seamus Hosey

Programme 1: 4th May 2008
The winning story read by Joe O'Donnell entitled 'Valediction'. Dublin resident Joe O'Donnell from Blackrock has written for stage, radio, television, special events and magazines. He has had over thirty radio plays broadcast both here and abroad. For television Joe has written and directed extensively for Glenroe, The Riordans The Morbegs, The House of Jerusalem, You Are Here and many children's series. He was Head of Young People's TV in RTÉ for seven years, and is the creator and first writer/producer of the Bosco series. His stage plays include Zoz, The Lads, Bonfire and, most recently, Journey towards the Light a specially commissioned play with music for the 200th anniversary of the Brigidine Order. He is a former winner of the Francis Mac Manus Award and has had over fifteen short stories broadcast.

Read by: Derry Power
Producer: Aidan Mathews