In 1970, he wrote the screenplay for ''
Blood on Satan's Claw''. (Directed by
Piers Haggard) He subsequently worked for the
BBC as a film editor, and was a graduate of the
NFTS in Beaconsfield (1975). In 1978, he worked for
RTÉ in Dublin, where he directed
Double Piquet, in 1979. In 1981–2, he wrote and directed
The Outcasts. The actor
Cyril Cusack appeared in both. Also in
The Outcasts were
Mick Lally and Mary Ryan, who won the prize for Best Actress in the
San Remo Festival in 1984, where the film won Best First Feature. The film also won prizes in the Oporto film festival, Brussels Fantasy film festival, and in Geneva. After a brief period directing for
The Book Tower, a children's TV series made by Yorkshire Television, he returned to Ireland to direct and write for the group of T.V. dramas known as
When Reason Sleeps, made by Strongbow Productions,
RTÉ and
Channel 4. In 1992, his short film
Scherzo was shown at the
Venice Biennale, the
Chicago Film Festival and the
San Francisco Festival, where it was awarded four stars. In 2006, he returned as a writer to the stage, with
The Deluge, a play based on the short stories of
Karen Blixen, which he directed at the
Edinburgh festival that year with
Susannah York in the leading role. In 2007, his monologue "Kurtz" was performed with
The Deluge at the New End Theatre, Hampstead. == Personal life ==