County Antrim
Liam Neeson - The Unlikely Irish Box Office Champion
It's strange to think today that the man from Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, is now a most unlikely king of the box office.
If you look back at his last few movies - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (grossed at least $290 million), Batman Begins ($205 million) and Star Wars - Episode I: Phantom Menace ($430 million) - that's a total of nearly one billion dollars worth of tickets. Granted he wasn't the leading man in those movies, but that's mightily impressive in an industry that judges you on your last box office figures. He will next be seen as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's next movie - reuniting them again more than ten years after Schindler's List - and he will also again provide the voice of Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Not bad for someone who was Youth Heavyweight Champion of Ireland for three consecutive years, but originally wanted to be a butcher. William John Neeson was born on 7th June, 1952, the third child and only boy among four siblings in a working-class Catholic family: "There was never a lot of money floating around. But there was always food on the table." Ballymena was a predominantly Unionist town, but "the troubles" didn't seem to affect Neeson greatly, as most of his friends were Protestants: "I think I realized there were two communities in Northern Ireland when I was about nine or 10, not because there was any trouble but because in certain years my parents would keep us indoors on the 12th of July. I couldn't figure that out, because all my mates were out dancing in the streets and I wanted to go out and join them. So it was then that I sensed a "them and us" attitude." However, on being offered Freedom of the Town of Ballymena by the Borough Council in 2000 he commented he had felt like a "second-class citizen" in the town, and the offer was withdrawn. Growing up it was his English teacher who encouraged him to take to the stage, and his first role was in local amateur drama company the Slemish Players. His performance in Philadelphia, Here I Come won him a Best Actor award at the Larne Drama Festival, and the world of butchers and boxing soon faded away. He studied at Queen's University in Belfast for a short while, but dropped out and returned to Ballymena. He had various jobs including a truck driver and a forklift operator at Guinness before attempting teacher training at St. Mary's College on the Falls Road. He was only there two years, but he did meet a number of people who were interested in acting and became sure that this was what he wanted to do with his life. His last role for the Slemish Players was memorable - he played Tapioca, one of the Ugly Sisters, in the Cinderella Christmas pantomime - and then passed the audition at the Lyric Players Theatre in Belfast and become a professional actor. After two years with the Lyric Players Neeson moved to Dublin, and joined the Abbey Theatre in 1977. Several years after this move, director John Boorman saw him in Of Mice and Men and offered him the part of Sir Gawain in what became Arthurian cult movie, Excalibur. Next was the inevitable move to London, and after several years working in stage, small budget movies and TV series he decided to give Hollywood a shot in 1987. His portrait of a deaf-mute in Suspect immediately woke up the critics, but it wasn't until his lead role in Darkman that the public wanted his name in bright lights. By James Bartlett - Writes for Hemispheres, the Irish Herald, Westways, Discover Hollywood, Voyager and Variety and is a contributor to BBC Radio and the voice behind "Only In America" for JackFM in the UK.
Headline: Jellyfish attack wipes out N. Ireland's salmon farm. Did Aliens initiate this attack?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071121/sc_afp/nirelandbritainanimalsfish
BELFAST (AFP) - Northern Ireland's only salmon farm was completely wiped out by a freak jellyfish attack, the owners said Wednesday.
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More than 100,000 fish worth more than one million pounds (2.1 million dollars, 1.4 million euros) were killed in the invasion at Glenarm Bay and Red Bay, on the County Antrim north-east coast.
We are still assessing the full extent, but it's a disaster," said John Russell, managing director of Northern Salmon Co. Ltd.
"In 30 years, I've never seen anything like it. It was unprecedented, absolutely amazing. The sea was red with these jellyfish and there was nothing we could do about it, absolutely nothing.
"I have never experienced such concentrations of jellyfish spread over such a wide area. The vastness was unbelievable."
The seven-hour attack over Tuesday and Wednesday last week saw the jellyfish covering a sea area of up to 10 square miles (26
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Going to Ireland in Feb. - anyone want a house guest? any tips on music, cheap eats and cheap accomodation?
I'm going to Ireland Feb. 12-28. I'm on a budget and want to experience what most tourists don't. My boyfriend will be joining me Feb. 18 or so. We'd love advice on cheap eats, cheap places to stay (that are open off season) and any other advice. We'll be all over but for now know that we're going to the Dingle Peninsula, County Antrim and Newgrange. We'd also like any advice on the best pub seisiuns around!
Thanks!
K and J
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How can animal "carers" be this cruel?
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1307253,00.html
Decapitated lions found in County Antrim animal park.
Do you believe the explanation? This would still be abhorrent even if it were true.
The pojnt is that even if his explanation is true, this treatment of the corpses is unacceptable to most people.
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County Antrim
1935 Giant's Causeway Northern Ireland County Antrim - ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAVURE
8 Feb 2012 at 4:04pm
 | $68.95 |
Print Poster Portbraddan and Whitepark Bay, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
8 Feb 2012 at 4:04pm
 | $4.99 |
1950 ANTRIM County MI CONSERVATION DNR MAP
8 Feb 2012 at 4:04pm
 | $5.99 |
1892 Print Castle of Carrickfergus Northern Ireland ships County of Antrim
8 Feb 2012 at 4:04pm
 | $13.95 |
VERY EARLY WARD LOCK RED GUIDE - COUNTY ANTRIM, NORTHERN IRELAND - 1917, RARE!
8 Feb 2012 at 4:04pm
 | $23.79 (0 Bids) |
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County Antrim News
First Hour: Presented by Rachael English and Gavin Jennings
8 Feb 2012 at 6:00am Teenage girl shot dead in Tallaght - Sinn Féin comments on HSE retirements - Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland on measures to reduce alcohol misuse - Young Americans tour - latest on SyriaRead more...
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First Hour: Presented by Cathal Mac Coille and Christopher McKevitt
20 Jan 2012 at 6:00am Need for Irish referendum fading - Oil spill affects water in River Deel in Limerick ? Is time running out for a Greek debt swap? ? Inability to pay: SIPTU and IBEC debate ? big tech resultsRead more...
First Hour: Presented by Gavin Jennings and Fran McNulty
16 Jan 2012 at 6:00am Environment Minister Phil Hogan on plans for water metering ? Who won what at the Golden Globe awards? ? Landlords concerned about possible cuts to rent allowance payments ? The return of Graham Geraghty to the Meath football teamRead more...
