16 October 2013: Results announced of James Plunkett short story competition

On Wednesday 16 October the winners of the James Plunkett Short Story Competition, sponsored by the Irish Writers’ Union, the Writers’ Centre, Dublin City Council/Dublin UNESCO City of Literature and the 1913 Lockout Committee, were announced at an event in the Irish Writers’ Centre, Parnell Square, Dublin 1.

Anne O’Brien claimed third prize for her story ‘I could have been anything’; Fiona O’Connor claimed second prize for her  story ‘The mystery of the missing finger and the dead cat’; and  Eileen Keane was the overall winner of the competition with her story ‘The peace of evening’, earning her €2,000.

Unfortunately Jennifer Johnston, who selected the three prizewinners, could not be there on the evening; instead, the  Irish Times literary editor Fintan O’Toole gave a speech on James Plunkett and the importance of literature to Ireland’s culture, and afterwards presented the winners with their cheques. Anne, Fiona and Eileen read their prizewinning stories, after which actor Bryan Murray brought the evening to a close with a reading of James Plunkett’s ‘Ferris Moore and the earwig’.