A 45-year-old primary school teacher was named as the overall winner of an RTÉ radio drama competition last night.
Ciarán Gray, from the North Strand, Dublin, won first prize in the RTÉ PJ O'Connor Radio Drama Awards for his play In the Real World.
There were more than 200 entries and In the Real Worldwas one of three overall winners from a shortlist of 12 radio plays.
The lively 30-minute comedy is about people trying to find the right place and the right person to fall in love with and focuses on two people who meet through an internet chatroom. Julie Parsons, chairperson of the judging panel, said it was a "fast, funny and elegant play" with snappy dialogue.
Mr Gray said he was "absolutely gobsmacked and utterly proud" to win. He has been writing and directing for more than 20 years and is involved in youth theatre. He spent a year in New Zealand writing and came up with the play when he combined two sketches he had written.
Kevin Gildea finished second with his play, Story. The Dún Laoghaire stand-up comedian's entry is described as a play about how we tell stories and how we are told them. The judging panel described it as an "anarchic comedy" with a "good sense of the ridiculous".
Nancy,by Gorey native Garrett Keogh, came third. The judges said the play is "a very Irish story that is a lament for a sad life but is not sentimental and has a fantastic ending". Keogh is an actor, writer and director whose Dog Show: Shepwon a Stewart Parker prize for a new play in 2006.
The winners won €3,000, €2,000 and €1,000 respectively and their plays will be broadcast later this year on RTÉ Radio 1.