Fair City star Bryan Murray has revealed that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
The actor, famous for his role as Bob Charles in the RTE soap, said he was diagnosed three years ago, but until now he only told his family and close friends.
However, the 73-year-old has now gone public in hope that it might help others battling the condition, according to RSVP.
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"As a younger actor, I would get a script, it would be four pages and within 15 minutes I would know the lines," he said. "As I got older, I couldn't do that any longer."
Bryan's wife Una Crawford O'Brien, who plays Renee Phelan in Fair City, realised there was something wrong while the pair were touring a play together. She said: "I noticed Bryan's lines were difficult for him. He'd get irate if I were to say anything, so later, on holidays, I asked if he'd get his memory checked. He had the tests and got the diagnosis.
"For Bryan, memory was his thing, and to have it taken away from you when you have been a professional actor for 52 years is upsetting. Yes, you can use tricks and all the rest of it, but when you can't remember, it's hard."
Bryan has no plans on leaving Fair City in the near future and has said producer Brigie de Courcy has been a huge help in supporting him through his work on set.
He told the RTE Guide: "When it first started, my character would be looking at a laptop, reading a newspaper, or I might have had a clipboard, but it would be the script in front of me. So, even if your memory is gone down the pan, your ways of coping with it are still intact.
"I had no problem telling the people in Fair City my memory was shot, that after half an hour of reading a script, I had no recollection of it."
Now Bryan wants to live his life to the fullest and hopes that the news of his condition will help others in the same situation.
"I really wanted to let it be known this was my situation and that for anyone who's been recently diagnosed, there is an answer to it. It's not the end of the world. It's the changing of your world, but it's not the end. I wish I didn't have it, but I do have it, and I'm still here. I have it and I am working with it."
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