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In 1980, he co-founded the Field Day Theatre Company with actor Stephen Rea – their work became known as an artistic response to the violence and politics that divided Northern Ireland at that time.

Deane visited his friend at his Donegal home recently said that although Friel had been “fading fast” due to illness, he preferred to remain at home rather than undergo lengthy treatment in hospital.

The teacher turned writer, who shunned the spotlight, is best known for Dancing At Lughnasa, which was adapted for a film starring Meryl Streep, and Philadelphia, Here I Come!, an internationally renowned play.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said Friel’s death was a loss to Ireland and the world.

In common with Horton Foote, the American playwright who was in many ways his opposite number, he set virtually all of his plays in a single place, the imaginary town of Ballybeg, a not-quite-fictional canvas on which he painted his subtly colored pictures of the joys and...

Former United States president Bill Clinton labbeled Friel “as an Irish treasure for the entire world”.