Presenting the Special Tribute Award to playwright Thomas Kilroy, actor Stephen Rea said: "We seem to want a theatre that speaks to and is relevant to contemporary society."
Speaking in the context of "the tepid argument about the Abbey in the past few months", he said that yet "we have a nostalgia for the early radicalism of the Abbey, without the drive or passion to recreate that radicalism for our own generation".
He made the comments because he believed that in Thomas Kilroy "we have a playwright who provides us, more than any other, with a theatre which is radical, genuinely intellectual, and is driven by ideas."
For over 30 years Thomas Kilroy had been "addressing big public themes in a passionate, intimate, and human way", he said.
Recalling Kilroy's broad range of achievements, he remembered that the playwright's Death and Resurrection of Mr Roche had been turned down by the Abbey, because of its homosexual content. Mr Kilroy was advised the Abbey "couldn't do it yet".
Then there was the "hilarious" Tea, Sex and Shakespeare, "the satirical yet surprisingly sympathetic Matt Talbot play" Talbot's Box. And Double Cross, "his masterpiece about those two great Irish poseurs Brendan Bracken and William Joyce".
He described Kilroy's play The Madame Macadam Travelling Theatre as "repeatedly underrated", and there was "the beautiful and insightful exploration of Constance Wilde's life with Oscar" in The Secret Fall of Constance Wilde.
Then the "most recent and savage play Shape of Metal about a woman forced into brutality for the sake of art".
Added to all of this was Kilroy's "unique exploration of world classic plays" by Chekhov, Ibsen, Pirandello, he said. What we were looking at was "an amazing body of work, output, and series of plays".
"A great writer proposes a theatre. He points us in new directions, identifies the issues that should concern us. Theatre is more important than ever. Public discourse needs to be raised to a higher level. We desperately need Thomas Kilroy and playwrights like him," he concluded.
Accepting his award, to sustained applause, Thomas Kilroy began "it really is time to open the bar". Expressing his gratitude to Stephen Rea, "another dear friend of mine", he said "what he has said means so much".
Theatre came from the energy of the group, he said, recalling that on his journey to the awards ceremony from the west of Ireland he had reflected that one of his great pleasures was seeing his work produced by younger companies such as Rough Magic, Red Kettle, Blue Raincoat, and others.
On the first day of rehearsal he was always "overwhelmed by the number of people who have come together to work on a play of mine". Something of each ended up in the production. "As a writer I need to say that. I am utterly dependent on others. I almost used the phrase 'dependent on the kindness of strangers'," he said.
He thanked The Irish Times for its coverage of and commitment to the arts in Ireland "for many, many years. I dread to think of the situation if it was not there".
He also thanked the newspaper and the ESB for the party and the opportunity to meet friends again. "And I know they won't mind if I consider this tribute to be from my friends in theatre itself," he concluded.
Speaking later Kilroy said the award was "a terrific acknowledgement", particularly in the context of its previous recipients.
He had been "overwhelmed" by the ovation from all the other guests present when the announcement of the award was made.
