On the 28th of August, I received a very sad call, that I had hoped would never come. Alan rang me to tell me that one of our founders Paddy O’Dwyer had passed away.
I last had a good chat with Paddy at our National Youth Theatre, with a joke and a smile we chatted about everything and nothing. We parted by saying ‘sure we’ll see you at the next one’. I’m sad knowing that now won’t happen, but comforted that his spirit and legacy will be a part of everything we do in the future.
I’ve been trying to think of the words to accurately capture the impact Paddy could have on one person and a whole organisation and then I read the wonderful tribute written by Alan King which captured the essence of this wonderful man more eloquently than I ever could, so I suggest you all go and read that here If you knew Paddy at all you knew what a fabulous person he was and how he affected so many people in Ireland and worldwide.
Even if you didn’t know him, but you are involved in youth theatre today, you are benefitting from his visionary view of the world right now. He wanted people to see beyond their own experience, beyond their own road, beyond their own county and beyond their own country. He was a brilliant man and I’ll miss his counsel and good humour deeply. I was reminded by a friend over the past few days that there would be no youth theatre without Paddy O’Dwyer, never was a truer word spoken.
May he rest in peace. Eoghan Doyle