Joe O’Donnell, the creator of Bosco, has won the €3,000 RTE Francis MacManus award. The competition is named after broadcaster and novelist Francis MacManus (1909-1965).

O’Donnell’s story ‘Valediction’ also won a Waterford Crystal trophy.

So who was Bosco?

Bosco was a cheeky red-haired puppet that lived in a box, ran on RTE in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Bosco sometimes left his box to visit Dublin Zoo.

“Knock knock, open wide, see what’s on the other side, Knock knock, any more, come with me through the Magic Door”.

I could never figure out if Bosco was male or female ….. anyone care to enlighten me?