Belfast rap trio Kneecap and Troubles series Say Nothing were among the big winners at the Irish Film and Television Academy (Ifta) awards on Friday.
Stars Saoirse Ronan and Cillian Murphy won for leading actor and actress in a film for their roles in The Outrun and in Small Things Like These respectively.
Kneecap’s self-titled Irish language film won four awards and Say Nothing also won four for its starring actors.
Small Things Like These won best film and best script, and comedy series Bad Sisters won three awards.
As she accepted her award, Ronan took young Irish actor Alisha Weir on stage with her. Weir is rumoured to be cast as Dorothy in the next instalment of Wicked and Ronan praised her as a young talent.
Ronan also won the best supporting actress award for Blitz, and Brian F O’Byrne took best supporting actor for his role in Conclave. Both expressed surprise at their win.
Rich Peppiatt, director of the Kneecap film, celebrated winning best director two hours after becoming an Irish citizen.
“Today I went from a subject to a citizen,” he said, as he held a pin of the Irish flag up, wearing a knitted balaclava on his shoulder.
Anthony Boyle, who was in the historical drama Say Nothing and blockbuster Masters Of The Air, won the rising star award, while Tom Vaughan-Lawlor won best supporting actor for a drama series.
Lola Petticrew won best lead actress in a drama for her role as Dolours Price in Say Nothing.
In her acceptance speech she spoke about what she said was “insurmountable inter-generational trauma and insufficient services to deal with it”.
“I would say that the first step in moving on and moving forward would be providing some decent mental health services, investing in youth services, and proper standard of living for all working-class people in the North.”
Both Petticrew and her colleague in Say Nothing, Hazel Doupe, who won for best supporting actress in a drama series, said “free Palestine” during their acceptance speeches.
Dublin actor Andrew Scott has said he was “really proud” of the recognition that Irish talent is receiving on the global stage, and said he would like to work more with other Irish actors.
Scott, known for Fleabag and Sherlock, was nominated for an award in the lead actor in a drama category, for his role in Ripley, a thriller miniseries based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 crime novel The Talented Mr Ripley.
He lost out Colin Farrell, who won for his role in the Batman spin-off series The Penguin.
Speaking to the PA news agency on the red carpet before the award ceremony at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre on Friday, Scott said: “I feel really, really proud of us.
“Particularly because I’m such an admirer of all the people – Saoirse (Ronan) and Cillian (Murphy) and Colin (Farrell) and Paul (Mescal), obviously, and Jessie (Buckley) and Ruth (Negga) and Alison (Oliver) and just so many people, Jamie (Dornan), it’s incredible.
“I feel like it’s great to just be part of that gang, I hope I just get to work with them a little bit more.”
Scott, who is returning to New York in the coming weeks to perform his hit West End play Vanya, joked the actors should all come together for a “big Irish superhero movie”.
Weir, who had been nominated for her starring role in 2024 vampire horror Abigail, was asked about the Dorothy rumours.
“How cool would that be?” she said. “I’m such a big fan of Wicked and I’m such a big fan of Ariana Grande and Cynthia (Erivo) and (director) Jon M Chu, that would be amazing.”
Part one of Wicked, starring Oscar-nominated actress Erivo and Grammy-winning pop star Grande, was released last year, with the second half of the two-part film expected in November.
On being surrounded by top Irish talent at the ceremony, she said: “It feels so incredible, I am so honoured to be in the same room as so many incredible people from the film industry that I look up to and aspire to be like when I’m older.
“And especially, it’s such an incredible Irish event that celebrates the Irish in the film industry, which is just incredible.”
Kneecap’s members – Naoise O Caireallain, J.J. O Dochartaigh and Liam Og O hAnnaidh – were all nominated for their film, a semi-fictionalised account of the raucous band’s formation, but ultimately lost out to Murphy.
Along with Peppiatt’s win for best director, they bagged wins for best casting, best costume and editing.
They shook up the red carpet as they hugged fellow Ifta guests and answered questions from the media.
“We didn’t expect anyone in America to know what we were talking about,” Kneecap member Moglai Bap said.
“They didn’t know what we were on about, but they enjoyed it, that’s a good sign.”
He said the group would go back to “focus on the music”, “back to the language, back to the culture” in the time ahead.
The Ifta awards celebrate Irish talent in film and television across 29 prize categories.
Actor Colm Meaney, known for playing Miles O’Brien in the Star Trek franchise and several role in Roddy Doyle films, will receive the lifetime achievement award for his “extraordinary contributions to cinema and television”.
Speaking ahead of the awards, he said it was an honour to be recognised by his peers.
“It’s a lovely award, to be here in my hometown, it’s an award that comes from my peers so it’s really special.”
