Madam, – I was sorry to hear of the death of Mick Lally.
I remember many years ago having breakfast in Salthill’s Warrick Hotel during the Galway Arts Festival and noticing the actor tucked away in a corner in happy conversation with his old friend Gabriel Byrne and Ellen Barkin.
Needless to say, I immediately lifted my newspaper, pretending to read and settled in for a good earwig.
Much to my disappointment the group was also spotted by a rather large crowd of adults and teenagers who immediately descended on the table.
Men, women and children alike climbed all over the Hollywood couple in an effort to get at “Miley” for an autograph.
I did, however, manage to hear Gabriel Byrne say with a grin to beautiful Ellen Barkin: “That’s fame”.
May he rest in peace. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – To say Mick Lally is dead is to say Croagh Patrick is no more. He was a force of nature on stage; a rock of Irish theatre. May he rest in peace. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Mick Lally was part of our collective experience through his great performances on television, radio, film and theatre. A giant of Irish life now sadly gone from us. Thanks, Mick. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I learned with great sadness of the death of Mick Lally, a master craftsman of the Irish stage and one who was not slow to nail his political colours to the mast when the need arose.
As a trade unionist, I recall his solidarity visit to the picket line of the Dunnes Stores strike against apartheid in the 1980s and his outspoken support of the strikers and their contribution to the liberation struggle of the old South Africa. Mick Lally will be missed in the world of Irish theatre and in the ranks of those who campaign for justice and peace at home and abroad. – Yours, etc,