RTÉ's radio series 30 Acres has taken the European Audio Fiction Series of the Year prize at the Prix Europa awards in Berlin, according to RTE.ie. It was the sole Irish winner at this year's ceremony. The award marks the first time RTÉ has won in this category, the broadcaster said.
The prize went to a co-production between RTÉ Drama on One and RTÉ Documentary on One. Colm Tobin and Aidan O'Donovan wrote the series.
Why it matters
The win places an Irish radio drama at the top of a European field that drew entries from across the continent. According to RTE.ie, 158 programmes from 29 countries were in contention this year.
For RTÉ, the result is a first in a category it had not previously won, the broadcaster said in its response to the award. The recognition also lands on a public service radio production rather than a television or streaming title, at a time when audio drama competes for attention with larger visual media.
The Prix Europa awards are in their 40th year and recognise what the organisation describes as Europe's outstanding audio, video and digital media productions of the year, RTE.ie reports. This year's judging and ceremony took place at Berlin's Haus des Rundfunks, which RTE.ie describes as the oldest self-contained broadcasting centre in the world.
A black comedy set on a failed housing project
30 Acres runs to four parts and is built as a mockumentary. Its setting is a ghost estate — a large housing development that was never completed — which gives the series its name.
The series is a black comedy, and its subject matter places it in the territory of failed property projects that marked Ireland's recent past. RTÉ has not, in the material released around the award, detailed the plot beyond its setting and format.
The production brought together two strands of RTÉ's radio output: Drama on One, its drama slot, and Documentary on One, its long-running documentary unit. RTÉ described the series as a co-production between the two in its statement on the win.
What happens next
RTÉ has pointed listeners toward the series itself, saying it is worth hearing. The broadcaster has not indicated any further plans for the production following the award.
