At the announcement this week of the winners of RTÉ's P.J. O'Connor Radio Drama Awards fellow judge and poet Peter Fallon teased that Pauline McLynn was the meanest judge on the panel.
Meanwhile, McLynn admitted she is going for parts in "one or more" of the three winning radio dramas. Kate Minogue, a former producer-in-charge in RTÉ's radio drama department, was also on the judging panel.
Michael D O'Callaghan, a science teacher in Newbridge, Co Kildare, took the first prize of €3,000 for his comedy of errors Downward. The script is about a caving expedition in the Burren that goes horribly wrong. He came second in the awards 12 years ago and was delighted to go one better this time.
Catherine Kelly from Downpatrick, Co Down, took the second prize of €2,000 for her play Iona, set in a small town in post-Agreement Northern Ireland. She described the drama as an exploration of the complexities of personal relationships caught up in the broader issues of identity in Northern society.
A camp answering machine and a dumb television feature large in Sligo-based Jaimie Carswell's quirky comedy After the Beep, which won third prize. He described the play as Toy Story with household appliances. Jaimie, who is from Kansas, said he was very relieved when he heard his name called out.
The three prize-winning scripts will be made into half-hour radio dramas, along with two or three more of the 12 shortlisted scripts. Production is due to begin in the autumn.
The awards are named in honour of the late P.J. O'Connor, former head of drama in RTÉ Radio 1, who was known for his nurturing of new writing talent. They were organised this year by Daniel Reardon, a senior producer in RTÉ Radio. P.J. O'Connor's widow Collette O'Connor was present at the ceremony, along with playwright Hugh Leonard.