Actors Bryan Murray and Una Crawford O’Brien appeared on The Tommy Tiernan Show on the national Irish television station RTÉ on 4 February 2023. In an honest and open conversation, the pair - who are a couple in real life and on RTÉ soap Fair City - spoke in-depth about various aspects of their lives, including their acting careers and their journey since Mr Murray’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis three years ago.
Mr Murray, a member of the Irish Dementia Working Group (IDWG), said RTÉ provides excellent support on set as he finds it challenging to retain lines from a script. Describing one particular moment, he said: “I had the key to the door, if you like. I had an earpiece that went all the way down my back into the back of my trousers. The person that I'm doing the scene with, after they're finished, I’d be fed the line that I'm next to say, and I got used to it and it was as easy as pie. It’s the key in the door now, thank goodness.” He also said that Una Crawford O’Brien has been “an absolute bedrock” of support for him. “I don't know what I would have done for the last while without her but she has been fantastic right along the line of it and I'm incredibly grateful.”
Bryan Murray and Una Crawford O’Brien shared their story publicly for the first time in August 2022. Ms Crawford O’Brien explained that they wanted “to let people know that it's not the end of the road for if you get a diagnosis of dementia, that you can keep going. You don't have to give up life just because you have dementia. You can get out there and you can work. More people might see that they can facilitate people who have it, in ways that they never thought of before.” The interview is available to watch, here:
https://www.rte.ie/player/series/the-tommy-tiernan-show/SI0000001918?epguid=IP10001177-07-0005
Pictured: Bryan Murray and Una Crawford O'Brien on the Tommy Tiernan Show (Photo by RTÉ)
