Cannon pays tribute to playwright Murphy

Minister for the Diaspora and International Development Ciaran Cannon has paid tribute to playwright Tom Murphy who died earlier this week aged 83.

The Minister has said that the Tuam-born dramatist’s work contributed a vital narrative to the national conversation on the experiences of the Irish abroad.

Minister Cannon said: “I was greatly saddened to learn of the death of Tom Murphy who was one of our greatest playwrights and became a legend within his own time.

“In recent months, public representatives from his home town of Tuam had been considering ways they might honour his tremendous contribution to the arts and last year, President Higgins bestowed on him the Golden Torc and the title of ‘Saoi’.

“He was fearless in exploding myths about the Irish experience abroad and was, in many respects, the playwright of the Irish diaspora as his work ensured that theatregoers were faced with the harsher realities of the emigrant experience.

“The inventive genius of his characters and his word-craft created truly memorable Irish theatre and the nightmare sequence from A Crucial Week in the Life of a Grocer’s Assistant, to name just one of his extraordinary works, is theatre at its best.

“I extend my sincerest condolences to Tom Murphy’s family at this time and also wish to acknowledge on behalf of the Irish abroad his contribution of such a vital narrative on their experiences throughout the course of his remarkable output.”

ENDS