Writer and creator of the Channel 4 dramedy Derry Girls, Lisa McGee has been announced as the winner of the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize, which recognises work that promotes peace, resolution and a greater understanding shared between the peoples of Ireland and the UK.

For the awards' 28th year, Derry native McGee won the £7,500 prize. Founded in memory of the British Ambassador to Ireland who was killed by the IRA in 1976, McGee was recognised for the final episode of the hit series, which dramatized the passing of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

McGee was announced as the winner on Tuesday evening at a reception in the Irish Embassy in London, Enniskillen actor Adrian Dunbar presented the showrunner with the award.

"In the end, the Judges decided that Derry Girls approached the underlying questions of prejudice, antagonism, cultural division and violence with unique humour, empathy and verve, illuminating the decision to endorse the Good Friday Agreement and linking it to a generation coming of age at a moment of hope," said Irish historian and academic Professor Roy Foster, speaking on the judges' behalf. "This powerfully endorsed key objectives of the Prize, namely, to promote and encourage peace and reconciliation in Ireland, and a greater understanding between the peoples of Britain and Ireland."

The first Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize was awarded in 1977 and it is administered by the Ewart-Biggs Trust, which includes the children of Christopher Ewart-Biggs and his late widow Jane Ewart-Biggs.

The prize's objective is to "recognize work that promotes and encourages peace and reconciliation in Ireland, a greater understanding between the peoples of Britain and Ireland, or closer co-operation between the partners of the European Community. "

The other shortlisted entries for the Memorial Prize were the books by Huw Bennett, Uncivil War: the British Army and the Troubles, 1966-1975 and Marilynn Richtarik, Getting to Good Friday: Literature and the Peace Process in Northern Ireland; Michael Magee’s novel, Close to Home; Owen McCafferty stage play, Agreement; and the five-part BBC TV series Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland.

Previous honourees include Anna Burns for her novel Milkman, Brian Keenan for his memoir, An Evil Cradling, Frank McGuinness for his play, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching towards the Somme, and Robert Kee for this book and RTÉ/BBC TV series, Ireland: A Television History.