Tag Archives: Francis MacManus

A DOOLIN hotelier has been honoured in a prestigious short story competition organised by RTÉ. Dónal Minihane, General Manager of Hotel Doolin, was named on Monday night as joint runner-up in the competition which honours the memory of the late writer, Francis MacManus. “It’s absolutely amazing to be recognised like this,” Dónal told The Champion. “It’s really great that people will read and hear the story. When writers sit down to write, we don’t expect many people to read our work, but still we do it. This is something that’ll help me to keep going when I’m up early on the dark winter mornings while everyone else is in bed.” ‘Windsea’ was unveiled on RTÉ Radio’s Arena on Monday night as joint runner-up and Dónal said he was delighted to get the call from producers to give him the good news. The piece was read on RTÉ by actor Aaron Monaghan on Wednesday night last, and the story is available …

A DOOLIN hotelier is one of ten writers to make the shortlist for a highly prestigious short story competition organised by RTÉ in memory of the late author, Francis MacManus. Dónal Minihane is General Manager of Hotel Doolin and the organiser of a number of popular local cultural festivals, including Doolin Writers’ Weekend. His short story ‘Windsea’ impressed a judging panel of accomplished writers and secured a place on the shortlist, which was whittled down from almost 2,800 entries. The story will be among those read on RTÉ on week nights from next Monday, September 27 to October 8. Dónal, who is a PhD student of Creative Writing at the University of Limerick (UL), described ‘Windsea’ as the monologue of a misjudged teenager as he holds his landlord, who has shot his dog, at gunpoint.  “I’d the lad and his mum in my head for a few years,” he explained. “I got the story down one morning. It came out …