"I love to tell stories of the problems faced by ordinary families. I'm intrigued by the narratives we tell ourselves, by the vagaries of chance and memory and by the fact that, in the tangled web of life, there is always a humorous thread."

Mary’s first play, ‘Semi-Private’ won the Irish Times/Dublin Theatre Festival award for a play by a female playwright.  It was produced at The Gate Theatre Dublin and subsequently enjoyed many further productions and country-wide tours.

She was one of the writers of the radio drama series Harbour Hotel  before moving to television to write for Fair City.  She was a script and lead story writer on the series for several years.

Mary has written two further stage plays, ‘Are You Listening to me, Gabyo?’ (Andrew’s Lane Theatre and Civic Theatre, Tallaght) and ‘Shady Ladies’ (Players Theatre, TCD and Theatre Upstairs, Exeter) . She has also written radio plays for RTE and for BBC4.

Mary has also written articles for The Irish Times, U magazine and Woman’s Way.  She has lectured at Listowel Writers week and has also written for Sunday Miscellany (The Age of Reason).

Them and US is her first solo novel.

Mary currently lives in West Sussex with her director partner, Nick Prosser and their poodle, Bing.

Praise for Them and US

“No one writes family like Mary Halpin, no one. Big, messy, scrappy, funny families where no one has ended up where they thought they’d be, and where everyone is just muddling their way through”

Claudia Carroll

“An hilarious and ingenious character study of a fractured family and their secrets and lies. It is full of intrigue, compellingly told. I loved it”

Liz Nugent