Brian Friel: Reflections on a 'literary giant'

Actors, politicians and figures from the arts world have been reacting to the death of Brian Friel.

Irish President Michael D Higgins

"His is a body of work that will endure. He was familiar to generations of Irish people and others across the globe.

"While his work has been performed on the professional stage to huge acclaim, it is also widely presented year after year in the amateur drama movement, and in school productions at home and abroad.

"His contribution to what one might call 'the theatre of memory' is an outstanding legacy. After Brian Friel's work no one could offer amnesia as an alternative to history.

"To have had the privilege of knowing Brian Friel as a friend was an immense gift. He was a man of powerful intellect, great courage and generosity. These were talents that he delivered with great humour, grit and compassion. His legacy to the Irish people is immense."

Meryl Streep, actor

"I am so sad to hear the world has lost the great Brian Friel.

"When a poet dies, we lose not just his, but the voices of all the people who passed through his life and imagination.

"And Friel introduced the people of Donegal to us as if we were all members of his family and community, and we couldn't help but recognise the people we loved in our own towns and lives, the people who make us laugh and make us furious.

"We've lost a tender dramatist, an insightful humanist, and a lovely man."

Liam Neeson, actor

"Brian was Ireland's Chekhov. All his plays touched on the parochial and the universal.

"Their themes described the complexities of the Irish character with enormous wit, grace and love.

"I had the pleasure of being in five of Brian's plays, in my early years.

"It was a joy to say his words and to feel secure in the hands of a master craftsman.

"I hope he and Heaney are having a 'wee one' together now and sharing a giggle."

John Hume, Nobel Peace Prize winner and former SDLP leader

"I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of my dear friend Brian Friel.

"To put simply, Brian Friel was a genius. But he was a genius who lived, breathed and walked amongst us.

"His loss will be felt terribly by his family and his fans. However, we can count ourselves lucky that the treasure of his work will be with us forever.

"He had a unique ability to transform the local to the global and bring the past to the present which enthralled people the world over.

"He is rightly regarded as one of the greatest Irish playwrights of all time."

Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Enda Kenny

"The nation and the world have lost one of the giants of theatre. His mythical stories from Ballybeg reached all corners of the world from Dublin to London to Broadway and onto the silver screen.

"All of his plays, including Translations, Faith Healer, Philadelphia, Here I Come! and Dancing at Lughnasa, will forever form part of the canon of greatness in dramatic writing.

"The consummate Irish storyteller, his work spoke to each of us with humour, emotion and authenticity. Like the great WB Yeats, he also served in Seanad Éireann. I would like to send my deepest condolences to his wife, Anne, and his children."

Irish Arts Minister Heather Humphreys

"It is with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Brian Friel.

"Brian was one of our truly great playwrights and was a household name not only here at home but on the international stage as well. He was renowned on Broadway, where many of his plays ran to great acclaim. Through his writing he brought Ireland, and particularly Donegal, to the world."

Carál Ní Chuilín, Northern Ireland culture minister

"It is the richness of his drama that we will miss the most. His plays were grounded in a familiar reality, yet they had layers of humour, sadness, satire, tragedy and hope.

"Friel belongs to the canon of great Irish writers. His affection for everyday subject matter was matched by his understanding of the human condition. This resulted in unique work, which stands as a milestone in Irish theatre.

"While today we mourn his death, and the vast gap his passing leaves, we also look to a legacy that will resonate through the ages. "

Arts Council of Northern Ireland

"Brian Friel was the most gifted dramatist of his generation and amongst the greatest ever to come out of Ireland.

"Although he immersed us all in the richness and complexity of life in Ireland, he had that rare ability to imbue local themes with universal resonance, which explains why his masterpieces in particular enjoy such enduring and widespread popularity."

Margo Harkin, filmmaker and member of Field Day Theatre Group

"There is a great sense of loss today.

"He was championed in Derry because he championed Derry himself when he opened Field Day.

"I was assistant stage manager when Translations opened and it changed my life. These were giants of the literary world who were involved in this play and so many plays in the ten years after that.

"When Brian embraced you, you became part of his wider cultural family. If you got to know the warmth of him, and his wife, Anne, and his family, it was extraordinary.

"I think he really understood the human condition, there's no doubt about that. He just had remarkable insights."

Roisin Fitzgerald, Ireland's People of the Year Awards

"We are very sad to hear of the passing of Brian Friel. Brian won a People of the Year award in 1991, however the award was stolen from his home.

"It turned up two years ago in an old garage in Rathfarnham, Dublin. We believe that it was left as security for petrol in a filling station many years ago.

"The person never returned to claim it, and when the filling station closed down 10 years ago, the owner kept the medal at home with the intention of finding the owner.

"Two years ago he re-discovered it when doing a clear-out. We met with the man and reunited Brian with his engraved 'Special Adjudicators Award'. This is the lovely note (above) we received back from him."

Foyle MP Mark Durkan

"Brian was a man of formidable intellect and fond spirit. He could be robust in his views but always modest of himself.

"His own attainments in his literary discipline did not prevent him from being warm in his appreciation of and to so many others.

"It was a privilege to hear his insights and encouragement on the power and use of language and his belief that political discourse needed to find new resonances without ignoring older truths."

Archbishop Eamon Martin

"Generosity and modesty were the hallmark of this great Irishman, who never strayed far from his roots.

"During my time as president of Saint Columb's College in Derry, I had contact with Brian on a number of occasions, he being a most distinguished past pupil of the college.

"He was genuinely interested in the students' progress and especially supportive with regard to the development of their literary skills.

"Brian Friel's many achievements, nationally and internationally, are too numerous to mention and his legacy is a truly great one. We are all honoured to have had him in our midst."

Jimmy Fay, executive producer at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast

"One of the great pleasures of this past summer has been working with Brian on Dancing at Lughnasa, and I know he was delighted with the way the production was received by audiences - it was genuinely a fitting tribute to one of the greatest writers Ireland has produced.

"His presence, his kindness and his work will always live in this playhouse. We will miss him terribly."

Queen's University Belfast

"For more than 50 years, Brian's plays have brought Irish theatre to the international stage and the Field Day Theatre Company, which he co-founded in 1980, transformed the landscape of Irish theatre.

"In 2008, Queen's established the Brian Friel Theatre and Research Centre and has enjoyed a long and successful relationship with the playwright. Brian showed a keen interest in the work of our students and, in 2011, the Brian Friel Medal was inaugurated for the highest mark in theatre practice.

"Everyone at the university would like to extend their deepest condolences to Brian's wife, Anne, and the wider family circle."

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