Irish Arts Center to Honor Pierce Brosnan

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www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/11705]Theater Mania: Irish Arts Center to Honor Pierce Brosnan (9-27-07)



Irish Arts Center to Honor Pierce Brosnan and Michael Flatley
By: Brian Scott Lipton

Film star Pierce Brosnan and Riverdance choreographer Michael Flatley will be among the honorees at the Irish Arts Center's 8th Annual Spirit of Ireland Awards Gala, to be held at 6:30pm on Friday, October 5 at the New York Athletic Club.

Liam Neeson and Gabriel Byrne will be honorary chairpersons of the Gala, which will also honor New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Joseph Smith, the CEO of Bobby Van's Steakhouse Group.

Tickets begin at $350, with proceeds to benefit the Center, which is currently presenting Marie Jones' Rock Doves. For tickets, call 212-757-3318, ext.203.

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From the NY Post:

By CINDY ADAMS October 11, 2007 -- IT'S not the season for the Irish to march up Fifth Avenue, but Liam Neeson, Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne and Christine Quinn did charge up Central Park South into the NYAC for the Irish Arts Center awards.

Said Pierce: "I'm foremost an Irishman. And getting myself ready for Halloween, which is All Souls' Night in Ireland. Ghosts and ghoulies. A scary time. But my kids celebrate in Malibu, where the biggest fear is your neighbor having a bigger garden than you."

Liam Neeson: "My family's still in Ireland. Returning periodically keeps me on an even keel. No matter what's bothering me I can see my way through it. Maybe it's just getting away from moviemaking for a while, but going back to that simple life seems to cut through the BS a lot. It's like a ballast."

Christine Quinn: "All my four grandparents were from Ireland. My father lived in County Cork. My mother's mother came over in steerage on the Titanic. Only a few from steerage made it out alive. She said she made it because, 'When those others dropped to their knees to pray I took a run for it.' "

Gabriel Byrne: "I had a 19th-century County Kilkenny farmhouse. You could see the entire valley. Bought it for $14,000 15 years ago, but I wasn't getting there enough so I sold it for three times that. If I'd kept it, I'd have made a killing. But, you don't think. You're so busy. Like I just finished a Susan Sarandon, Christopher Plummer, Max von Sydow film . . . but . . . jeez . . . I can't even remember the name of it."

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But my kids celebrate in Malibu, where the biggest fear is your neighbor having a bigger garden than you.

;D Ain't it the truth.