Fair City star Bryan Murray has revealed he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
The actor, best known for his role as Bob Charles on the RTE soap, was diagnosed three years ago but only decided to go public recently.
The 73-year-old had noticed several years ago he found it harder to learn his lines as quickly as he could’ve.
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He said: “As a younger actor, I would get a script, it would be four pages and within 15 minutes I would know the lines.
"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, figured something was up when the pair were touring with 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."
But Bryan said that while it wasn’t “the end of the world”, he wished he didn’t have it.
Bryan will continue to work on Fair City for the foreseeable future and he has praised producer Brigie de Courcy for finding ways to support his condition 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."
Despite suffering from memory loss, Bryan's acting ability has not been affected by his diagnosis whatsoever.
"They really could have said, well if you can't learn your lines, you can't be in the show, but they did the exact opposite and that got rid of one of my biggest fears."
For now, Bryan is focused on living in the moment and hopes going public with this news will help others in a similar 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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