Two young Galway writers are through to the finals of the 2023 RTÉ Schools Playwright Competition.

The winner of the competition, which is now in its 10th year, will be announced at an Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, April 25, in Athlone’s Dean Crowe Theatre.

Since 2014, this annual competition has become a flagship event of the RTÉ All-Ireland Drama Festival Fringe, and there are six finalists this year.  They are in Transition Year and were challenged to write a one-act play (of about 2,000 words) on a given them, with Environment being this year’s topic.

TY students from  Galway, Cavan, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Longford, Meath, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary and Westmeath entered this year’s event.

Grace Hennessy from Oranmore’s Calasanctius College and Cormac Reilly from Glenamaddy Community School are the Galway finalists. They are up against Daniel Scally Daniel,  Tullamore College, Offaly; Noah Winders, Castleknock College, Dublin; Seán Brennan, Athlone Community College, Westmeath; and  Veronica Ogunleye, Wilson’s Hospital School, Westmeath.

After the results are announced on April 25, the winning play will be performed by an experienced cast, directed by Alfie Kilduff and Joe MacCarrick (former festival director).

The guest speaker for the event will be acclaimed playwright, Christian O’Reilly, who was a recent Writer in Residence at Galway’s Town Hall Theatre. He will speak to the students about the importance of scriptwriting. The judging panel is led by Billy Nott and includes Evelyn Breen, Clive Darling, Joe MacCarrick, and Paddy Martin.

Athlone Credit Union is sponsoring the prize money for the finalists, who will be presented with their certificates, vouchers and pens at the ceremony on April 25.