John Banville wins Booker Prize for The Sea

Irish author John Banville has won this year's prestigious Booker Prize for his latest novel, The Sea.

The Wexford-born writer saw off competition from fellow Irishman Sebastian Barry, as well as Kazuo Ishiguro and Julian Barnes, to claim the £50,000 (€72,700) prize.

The Sea is the story of a widower returning to a seaside village where he spent his childhood summers.

It is the first Irish novel to win the Booker Prize since Roddy Doyle's Paddy Clarke Ha, Ha, Ha in 1993.