The playwright and novelist, John Arden, has died, age 81. He was a great writer, and long-time friend and supporter of the work of the Russell Foundation . In recent years, he campaigned against the use of Shannon Airport in the West of Ireland as a transit for US military heading to Afghanistan, Iraq and other theatres of war, contrary to the requirements of Ireland's international status as a neutral country. These campaigns also highlighted the use of Shannon for secret "rendition" of prisoners in the so-called "war on terror", who might be tortured on arrival at their destination, as revealed by the Council of Europe. In 2009, John Arden produced a glorious collection of stories entitled Gallows and Other Tales of Suspicion and Obession , which mingles black comedy with melodrama to probe the underside of Irish and English history from the 17th century to the 21st. He is the author of a variety of plays, including All Fall Down , which appeared in 1955, Ser...