This year's Rooney Prize for Irish Literature has been won by a Mayo born short story writer, Mr Mike McCormack. The prize, worth £5,000, was presented to Mr McCormack (31) at a ceremony in the AIB International Financial Services Centre in Dublin.
Mr McCormack's first book, Getting it in the Head, was published earlier this year by Jonathan Cape. A graduate of University College Galway, he lives in Louisburgh, Co Mayo.
The prize is sponsored by the Irish American Rooney family from Pittsburgh.