RTÉ SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2025: WINNERS ANNOUNCED
FIRST PLACE AND €5,000 – LYNDA McCARTHY FOR ‘WITNESS’
SECOND PLACE AND €4,000 – ANGELA FINN FOR ‘A SPECTRUM OF SORROW’
THIRD PLACE AND €3,000 – IAN FEIGHERY FOR ‘AUNTIE AND ANTO AND IVY AND AVA’
AWARDS BROADCAST LIVE ON RTÉ RADIO 1’S ARENA FROM THE PAVILION THEATRE, DÚN LAOGHAIRE
www.rte.ie/writing | www.rte.ie/Culture | #rteshortstory
Cork writer wins prestigious competition with her very first short story sent out for publication
A “subtle, sensitive and quietly powerful” story of domestic tension, ‘Witness’ by Lynda McCarthy has been announced as the winning story in this year’s RTÉ Short Story Competition 2025 in honour of Francis MacManus.
The announcement was made live on RTÉ Radio 1’s Arena as part of an RTÉ Short Story Competition Special hosted by Rick O’Shea in the Pavillion Theatre Dun Laoghaire.
As winner Lynda McCarthy received a cheque for €5,000. Lynda, a journalist originally from Cork, now living in County Waterford with her husband and children, first drafted this story last year while taking part in an online evening creative writing course with Waterford Libraries. This is her first time sending a work of fiction out for publication. Of the story, she said, “I wanted to explore this character who feels barely visible in her own home – what would it take for her to change her circumstances? What would it mean for her to have someone witness how she is treated?” Witness is available to read and listen back to on rte.ie/culture – it’s read by acclaimed actress Elaine Walsh.
Second Prize went to ‘A Spectrum of Sorrow’ by Angela Finn, a final year PhD student at the School of English, DCU, who was presented with a cheque for €4,000, while Third Prize went to ‘Auntie and Anto and Ivy and Ava’ by Ian Feighery, a primary school teacher from Tallaght, Count Dublin, who was presented with a cheque for €3,000. The seven runners-up received €300 each.
The winning short stories were selected by this year’s judges, writers Neil Hegarty, Tristan Rosenstock and Jan Carson from the shortlist of 10 short stories (shortlisted from 2,200 entries submitted).
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID ABOUT ‘WITNESS’ BY LYNDA McCARTHY (First Prize)
Awarding the prize, Neil Hegarty said: “In the subtle and sensitive Witness, a middle-aged woman takes stock of her life – the impetus to do so being the arrival of new eyes and new energy in the form of a young French exchange student. As she assesses her stale relationships with her husband and her sons, we see – or do we? – the tentative beginnings of a new life, of a new courage, of a new way of living.”
Jan Carson added: “In Witness we meet a middle-aged woman forced to take an honest look at her life and marriage. This story is beautifully written. We particularly enjoyed the small but detailed observations and the creeping sense of discomfort as the protagonist slowly begins to acknowledge that her husband is not supporting her youngest son’s needs and decides to advocate on his behalf. A quietly powerful read.”
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID ABOUT ‘A SPECTRUM OF SORROW’ BY ANGELA FINN (Second Prize)
Awarding the prize, Jan Carson says: “The sentences in A Spectrum of Sorrow are crisp and cool and perfectly executed. The judges were impressed by the writer’s ability to approach the subject matter objectively whilst at the same time thoroughly engaging the reader. We were captivated from the first sentence and loved the reflective imagery of the final paragraph.”
Neil Hegarty added: “A Spectrum of Sorrow explores grief – and what can come afterwards, if we give ourselves time to grieve, and then permission to live again. The unnamed protagonist must set about rebuilding her life – but how? The story shows that life and renewed momentum are like flowing water – they will find a way through. A skilful and gently restorative story.”
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID ABOUT ‘AUNTIE AND ANTO AND IVY AND AVA’ BY IAN FEIGHERY (Third Prize)
Awarding the prize, Tristan Rosenstock says: “Ivy is treated to a day out with her fun-loving Auntie Ciara, but the emotionally aware Ivy soon realises that they both need an escape. Auntie Ciara reveals that her relationship with Anto is over as he didn’t want to have children. Meanwhile, Ivy’s parents have their hands full with Ivy’s sister Ava, who has special needs. The yearning for and challenges of parenthood are beautifully woven together and we get a wonderful sense of how a young child learns to act beyond her years and help lighten the burden for everyone around her.”
Neil Hegarty adds: “Auntie and Anto and Ivy and Ava is one of a number of child-focused entries to this year’s competition – and one of the most interesting and distinctive. It’s no straightforward matter to imagine experiences from a child’s point of view – but here, the author excels in teasing out the vividness, the anxieties, the pleasures, and connections that infuse this child narrator’s life.”
***Read about the winning writers and what they said about their stories in the Notes to Editors below.
New judge, Jan Carson described this year’s shortlist as “eclectic, captivating and a real snapshot of the issues pertinent in contemporary Ireland.”
The shortlisted stories, in alphabetical order by story title were:
- A Spectrum of Sorrow, by Angela Finn
- Auntie and Anto and Ivy and Ava, by Ian Feighery
- Corrán na Maidine (Irish language), by Niall Ó Siadhail
- Feeding Time, by Sinèad Troy
- It Must Have Come First, by Sage Omar
- Kazakhstan, by Kevin McDermott
- Labels, by Mary O’Rourke
- Pool Story, by Jill Kenny
- Witness, by Lynda McCarthy
- Wolves, by Peter McCauley
All ten stories were published on rte.ie/culture and read by an ensemble of Irish actors on RTÉ Radio 1’s Late Date from Monday 13th October until last night, Thursday 23rd October. The shortlisted stories and their writers also featured regularly on RTÉ Radio 1’s Arena over the past two weeks.
Sarah Binchy, series producer said: “We’d like to extend our congratulations to all our prizewinners and shortlisted writers, and our thanks for the entertainment, companionship and voyages of the imagination they’ve provided us with over the past few months. Deep thanks to our reading panel and our thoughtful and insightful judges, Neil Hegarty, Jan Carson and Tristan Rosenstock, to our fine array of renowned actors who have been bringing the stories to life on air and on podcast, and to our Late Date and Arena colleagues and colleagues in RTÉ Sound, Online and Comms for their great support for the competition. The stories will have a long life on rte.ie/culture and rte.ie/writing for readers and listeners to enjoy.”
Set up in 1986 to honour writer and broadcaster Francis MacManus, the RTÉ Short Story Competition has been a critically important launch pad for new and emerging writers in Ireland. Past winners and shortlisted writers include Claire Keegan, Molly McCloskey, Danielle McLaughlin, Anthony Glavin, Chris Binchy, Nuala O’Connor, Liz Nugent, Colin Walsh, Stephen Walsh, Austin Duffy and Sarah Gilmartin.
The RTÉ Short Story Competition is free to enter, and open to any writer over 18 living on the island of Ireland or living abroad who holds an Irish passport. Details of next year’s competition will be announced in early 2026. For more on the RTÉ Short Story Competition, see www.rte.ie/writing.
ENDS
For information:
Neil O’Gorman, Corporate Communications Manager, RTÉ | E: neil.ogorman@rte.ie
ABOUT THE WINNING WRITERS AND WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT THEIR STORIES
FIRST: LYNDA McCARTHY (‘Witness’)
Lynda McCarthy is originally from Cork and now lives in Waterford with her husband and children. She is an award-winning journalist and is currently working on a Middle Grade mystery novel. This is her first time putting a piece of fiction forward for publication.
About the story: I wanted to explore this character who feels barely visible in her own home – what would it take for her to change her circumstances? What would it mean for her to have someone witness how she is treated?
SECOND: ANGELA FINN (‘A Spectrum of Sorrow’)
Angela Finn, from Dublin, is a final year PhD student at the School of English, Dublin City University, with a particular interest in hybrid literary forms. She won the 2020 Madrid Desperate Literature Short Story competition and was the 2022 recipient of the Iron Mountain Literature John McGahern Award.
About the story: “A Spectrum of Sorrow’ started life as a prose poem, exploring the complexity of grief and how one copes, (or doesn’t) in its aftermath. The character’s voice emerged during redrafts and took the narrative to its natural conclusion.”
THIRD: IAN FEIGHERY (‘Auntie and Anto and Ivy and Ava‘)
Ian Feighery is from Templeogue, Dublin, where he now lives with his husband. He works as a primary school teacher in Tallaght and holds an MA in Children’s and Young Adult Literature from DCU. Ian writes with the PiCWiTs, a creative writing group of practising and retired teachers in Drumcondra Education Centre. This is his first published story.
About the story: “Overwhelmed by guilt and unnoticed by the grown-ups in her life, a young girl tries to make amends for a past wrongdoing… I wanted to convey the inner turmoil of a child that so often goes unnoticed by the adults in their lives, and how relationships with these adults can have a transformative effect on their understanding of the world.”