O'Flanagan wins Bursary

IFTN reports that Irish screenwriter Mary Kate O'Flanagan has won the European Alliance for Television and Culture (EATC) Bursary Award. Tyrone Productions has optioned the idea for development.

Mary Kate's winning entry is a pilot of a detective series, featuring a young Chinese woman becoming a recruit in the Garda Siochana (the Irish police force). The story is inspired by the new Garda policy of recruiting from ethnic minorities.

Mary Kate O'Flanagan said: 'Like a lot of Irish people I've been an immigrant and find the collision of cultures a fascinating place to explore what makes us all individuals and what we have in common. And I think every one loves a good detective story.'

The award includes trips to Berlin and Geneva to workshop the idea with internationally renowned tutors. This will be the screenwriter's first foray into writing for television. She previously attended the television writing course run by FAS/Screen Training Ireland.