Former Fair City star Aoibhin Garrihy paid tribute to her late co-star Karl Shiels saying: “It’s hard to believe, it’s just awful.”
The actress, who only crossed paths with the late actor briefly before she left the RTE soap for good in 2014 added that she was struck by the amount of acting careers Shiels helped carve over the years.
She told Irish Daily Mirror: “My whole Facebook page, Instagram page, Twitter page is just flooded and it is just a testament to the man.
“He was a mentor to so many and what really struck a chord to me is that so many young actors and old actors said ‘Karl gave me a chance when nobody else would’ by providing a platform at The Theatre Upstairs and yeah he was a mentor and a lovely guy.”
Recalling the last time she worked with the Peaky Blinders star who passed away suddenly on Sunday at the age of 47, she added: “When I went back for a short stint he was there I think he joined 2014.
"I left in 2013 but I went back for a kind of Neasa returns from the States kind of thing, and he was there and he was just larger than life.
"It’s so hard to even say was, it’s hard to believe it and it’s just awful.”
The Castleknock businesswoman has since swapped her successful acting career for the wellness industry and a life in Co. Clare with her husband John Burke.
And when asked if viewers can expect a return to the small screen anytime soon, the mum to one-year-old baby Hanorah said: “Acting feels like a distant memory now, so not at the moment but who knows.
“This is the project at the moment and it takes up more time than I expected.”
Aoibhín was speaking at the RDS yesterday to officially launch the 2019 Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Stena Line Dublin Horse Show.
The Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Stena Line Dublin Horse Show 2019 takes place from the 7th-11th August and this year, and will include an exclusive wellness event by BEO Wellness on Thursday 8th August.
