Tributes have poured in for Glen Hansard, following the singer and actor’s sudden death in Dublin today.
Gardaí said the 56-year-old died in a road crash in Lucan, in the early hours of this morning.
In a statement by his management company, his family were described as “deeply shocked and heartbroken” by his passing.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he was a "talented musician and actor", who over many years "made a significant contribution" to Irish culture.
On Lunchtime Live, Danny McElhinney, a music journalist with the Mail on Sunday, said the news was a “tremendous shock” to him.
“I was just dumbfounded,” he said.
“Our history with road traffic accidents in this country, it is just every day, it's like a massacre.
“And to hear that Glenn has gone this way, it's so sad, so shocking.”
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Mr McElhinney praised The Frames as an “extremely important band” in the world of Irish music.
However, he said that his personal connection to Glen “goes back a lot further than that”.
“I was a busker in Grafton Street in 1990, when I first came to Dublin, I would have been playing R.E.M. and Waterboy songs,” he recalled.
“I went into the Coffee Inn and Glen came in; I'd never met him, I didn't know who he was really.
“He complimented me, sat down beside me and paid for my burger, bolognese sauce and chips and coke, which cost seven quid.
“It was a lot in those days - that was a decent shift.”
Glen Hansard. Picture by: Marissa Carter/ZUMA Press Wire/Alamy.com. In the years afterwards, Mr McElhinney said he was a regular feature at parties in Rathmines with his guitar where his personality shone.
“Glenn was just a genuine good guy,” he said.
“Glenn was a tremendous musician, he had a heart of gold.”
Glen Hansard was born in Dublin in 1970 and grew up in Ballymun.
He is survived by his wife Maire Saaritsa and their young son, Christy.
Main image: Glen Hansard. Picture by: Alamy.com.
