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POET REMEMBERED:BEING A FRIEND of the late John O’Donohue was a special experience – a blessing. His presence preceded any words that might later be exchanged. He had a capacity to create a reassurance and make a bridge of understanding that was instinctive, pre-verbal.

He visited me frequently during my stay in hospital in 2005. Before I opened my eyes I knew he was there. At this time he was working on a lecture for John Dillon’s seminar on Neo Platonism. He was preparing his paper, later published as a pamphlet with the title Towards a Poetics of Possibility. We discussed utopian studies, hope, possibility, and Ernst Bloch before, seeing my energy ebbing, he told me to keep my spirits up and left with a typical John O’Donohue invocation and blessing. For so many, he was a special friend.