Biography
Sinead is a screenwriter originally from Limerick city, and currently living in Co. Clare with her husband and three children. Having had an 18 year career in Child Protection Services across Ireland, working at the coalface of some of Ireland’s most impoverished and underserved communities, her writing is heavily influenced by the people she worked with and the communities she has worked in.
With a B.A. in History, Politics and Social Studies, Sinead is particularly interested in social issues set in a time period that have a contemporary resonance today. Her passion lies in exploring social justice themes, stories that examine the distribution of power, stories that leave an audience asking questions and spark public debate.
Sinead's short script Salvation Calling was one of only ten short films selected to go into production by the BBC Writers Room in 2020. Her short film PADDY premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh in 2020. She was also one of three screenwriters selected for the Galway Film Centre / BAI Mentorship Scheme in 2019 for her TV series Straight & Narrow (6 X 60 mins) which has since been optioned.
Her debut feature script ’77 was selected for development through the Screen Ireland Spotlight Scheme in 2020. She was recently selected as one of eight writers by Stellify Media / Northern Ireland Screen / Sony Pictures as part of the All-Ireland Screenwriting Prize for the successful crime drama pitch Borderlands. Since then, she has been invited into a writers room for an adaptation for a TV project, as well as having two short films in development.
Project Title: ‘77
- Genre: Drama
- Target Audience: 25+
Synopsis
When Patrick Flynn drops out of college and joins an anarchist protest movement in London, he’s disowned by his enraged father, yet his broken-hearted (and mortified) mother Maura embarks on a mission to bring him back into her conservative fold before word spreads about his antics among the London Irish community. However, young Patrick’s not for turning. If it’s a choice between fitting in or fucking off, Patrick’s choosing the latter.
When Patrick dies in mysterious circumstances at a demonstration, Maura’s finally forced to take the blinkers off and see what’s happening in the real world. Maura starts to slowly question everything that’s happening outside the confines of the bubble she had made for herself for so many years, but a lifetime of conformity is a difficult habit to break. Trying to get to the root of what happened to Patrick, Maura’s internal shift is well underway, much to the horror of her husband and her community. If she uncovers the truth about how Patrick died that day, some very powerful people will fall spectacularly from grace. She cannot un-know what she’s learned since Patrick’s death, and she cannot go back to her silent life. Refusing to bend to relentless pressure from home and her community, Maura loses everything she once valued so much, in order to stay true to herself and what is right: speaking out, instead of standing in line.
’77 is a coming of age story about a mother who finally finds her voice.
To get in touch with Sinead or find out more about '77, contact spotlight@screenireland.ie