By Des Cryan in Dublin
News of a lucrative books deal secured by the youngest daughter of Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has thrust the 21-year-old into the limelight as a journalist graduate made good.
Cecilia Ahern, a graduate of Griffith College, completed her journalism degree last year and went to work on her novel, PS, I Love You.
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On being sent the first 10 chapters of Ahern’s novel, publisher Harper Collins signed up for a reported E150,000 (£98,500) two-book deal. US publisher Hyperion also offered a two-book contract worth about $1m (£650,000). The book is expected to be on sale in the spring.
This is not the first time an Irish journalist has hit the jackpot with a first novel. In 1998, John Connolly, a freelance reporter with the Irish Times, won a £350,000 deal with a UK publisher for a thriller. A $1m offer from a US publisher followed.
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