Second time lucky as Banville wins Booker

IRISH author John Banville confounded all predictions last night by winning the prestigious Man Booker prize for his novel, The Sea.

The Wexford-born writer beat off the favourite, English author Julian Barnes, to take the coveted prize which was announced at a special ceremony in London. Mr Barnes was the clear favourite.

It is a case of second time lucky for Mr Banville, having previously been shortlisted for the €74,000 prize in 1989, for his novel, The Book of Evidence.

The Sea, which tells the story of a bereaved Irish alcoholic's return to the seaside resort of his childhood, is virtually guaranteed to top the bestseller lists in the months ahead Chair of the Booker judges John Sutherland said, "in an extraordinarily closely contested last round, in which the judges felt the level of the short-listed novels was as high as it can ever have been, they have agreed to award the Man Booker prize to John Banville's The Sea."

Mr Banville is the first Irish author to win the Booker since Roddy Doyle won for his 1993 novel, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

Born in Wexford in 1945, John Banville was educated at a Christian Brothers school before going on to work for Aer Lingus.

His first major publication was a collection of short stories, Long Lankin, in 1970. His first novel was Nightspawn (1971). That was followed in 1976 by Dr Copernicus, the first in a series of novels that followed that explored the lives of some of history's most eminent scientists, like Isaac Newton.

A former journalist and ex-literary editor of the Irish Times, Mr Banville has also written for the stage and lives in Dublin.

However, it is as a novelist that he is most renowned particularly for his highly polished, individual style.

In winning, Mr Banville saw off some stiff opposition. Apart from Julian Barnes, for his book Arthur & George, he was also up against former Booker winner Kazuo Ishiguro, for Never Let Me Go; Zadie Smith, for On Beauty; Ali Smith, for The Accidental; and fellow Irishman Sebastian Barry, for A Long Long Way, a historical novel that depicts the Irish experience of World War I.