He made us think: Salute to the Tóibíns

One made us laugh at times; the other cry at times but, best of all, they always made us think. As we salute writer Colm Tóibín, the recipient of this year’s Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award at the An Post Irish Book Awards, we bid a sad farewell to Niall Tóibín, comic, actor, raconteur, and all-round good guy.

Both Tóibíns possessed a gift for interpreting the world around them in a unique and memorable way. Colm continues to do it as novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic, and poet, while Niall Tóibin has left a theatrical legacy spanning stage, television, film, and radio that will last for a long time to come.