Wow! The Irish Times has done an amazing job with ‘Daddy Christmas’ my Christmas Day short story commissioned by Michael Shannon for BBC Radio Ulster which aired nationally in BBC Radio 4. This is its first time in print thanks to Martin Doyle and Nadine O’Regan at The Irish Times and look at these beautiful illustrations/artworks by Anne O’Hara.
‘Daddy Christmas’ will appear in my collection of radio stories ‘I Hear You’ from Salt Publishing March 2025.
You can read the story here and you can see more about ‘I Hear You’ here.
My 10 part short story series, ‘The Circus’, which aired on BBC Radio 4 this year and again on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle, has made the BBC’s top 10 recommendations. Lots of great stuff here to listen to… listen.
The fifth and final episode of my series of short stories, ‘The Circus’, is on BBC Sounds. Originally, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, in January, it has been repeated on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle.
This episode contains the stories – The Medium and Dockyard Dolores
“A spiritual medium isn’t sure if a talent show is the proper venue to showcase his divine gifts and a drag queen gives an interview promoting an upcoming talent show.”
A former working men’s club in North Belfast called ‘The Circus’ has been refurbished and relaunched with an inaugural talent show – and a massive cash prize for the winner! – inspiring the locals to brush up on some old skills. The new owner, a successful London property developer, has promised to bring a bit of the West End to North Belfast. But can the area really change? Can the people?
Cliftonville Circus is where five roads meet in North Belfast. It is situated in the most deprived part of the city; it is also the most divided. Each road leads to a different area – a different class – a different religion. ‘The Circus’ explores where old Belfast clashes with the new around acceptance, change, class and diversity.
Read by Leanne Devlin and Chris Robinson Produced by Michael Shannon Executive Editor Andy Martin
My ten-part short story series The Circus commissioned by, and aired on, BBC Radio 4, earlier this year, is being repeated on BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle every Saturday. In five episodes, each one will combine two of the stories. I hope you enjoy.
A former working men’s club in North Belfast called ‘The Circus’ has been refurbished and relaunched with an inaugural talent show – and a massive cash prize for the winner! – inspiring the locals to brush up on some old skills. The new owner, a successful London property developer, has promised to bring a bit of the West End to North Belfast. But can the area really change? Can the people?
Cliftonville Circus is where five roads meet in North Belfast. It is situated in the most deprived part of the city; it is also the most divided. Each road leads to a different area – a different class – a different religion. ‘The Circus’ explores where old Belfast clashes with the new around acceptance, change, class and diversity.
Read by Ruby Campbell and Abigail McGibbon Produced by Michael Shannon Executive Editor Andy Martin
Following on the footsteps of Northern Ireland’s finest like David Parks and Jan Carson (The Last Resort) I was commissioned to write a ten part series of linked short stories. The series is called The Circus and is centred around Cliftonville Circus where 5 roads meet in North Belfast.
“A former working men’s club in North Belfast called ‘The Circus’ has been refurbished and relaunched with an inaugural talent show – and a massive cash prize for the winner! – inspiring the locals to brush up on some old skills. The new owner, a successful London property developer, has promised to bring a bit of the West End to North Belfast. But can the area really change? Can the people? Cliftonville Circus is where five roads meet in North Belfast. It is situated in the most deprived part of the city; it is also the most divided. Each road leads to a different area – a different class – a different religion. ‘The Circus’ explores where old Belfast clashes with the new around acceptance, change, class and diversity.”
The first episode is on Jan 8th and is titled The Singer.
Ian Beattie, Ruby Campbell, Maggie Cronin, Michael Condron, Leanne Devlin, Abigail Fitzgibbons, Tony Flynn, Louise Parker, Michael Patrick and Chris Robinson.
PS You can still listen to Daddy Christmas my Radio 4 short story that aired last Christmas Day which is available for the next few days.
This is a short video I made for BBC Radio to help budding writers out there. It includes my advice on best writing books and where to begin. I hope you enjoy it.
Where I read from The Good Son, talk to Katy about books, World Book Day and The 32.
“On World Book Day, Kathy’s guests are writer Paul McVeigh, the cast of youth drama Crusaders and actor Matt Cavan. There’s music from Emma Horan, Johnny Fitch and the Leading Ladies, and Karishma Kusurkar has the pick of the podcasts.”
Paul McVeigh 