A STAR of Derry Girls has said she would "never boycott working in Northern Ireland" as a campaign intensifies among Hollywood actors to veto locations with strict abortion laws.
Nicola Coughlan, who is a pro-choice campaigner, has waded into the row amid calls for major US studios to withdraw from the north's booming film industry.
Oscar-nominated actress Jessica Chastain and Game Of Thrones star Sophie Turner are among 100 actors who signed a petition to boycott working in the US state of Georgia over a proposed abortion ban.
However, campaigners have criticised some stars for choosing to work in the north - where Game of Thrones was filmed - where abortion is only legal in cases where the woman's health is at risk.
Media giants including Netflix and Disney are being urged to withdraw projects, saying filmmakers should consider Northern Ireland in 'the same light' as Georgia.
Ms Coughlan (32), who plays Clare Devlin in the hit Channel 4 comedy Derry Girls, was challenged on social media about continuing to work in Belfast, where a third season of the show is due to be filmed, given her support for the pro-choice movement.
In February, she and one of her co-stars, Siobhan McSweeney, who plays Sister Michael, joined 26 other women at a Westminster march where they delivered a 62,000-strong petition to Secretary of State Karen Bradley demanding a change to the law.
Responding on Twitter, Ms Coughlan wrote: "Just to state I would never boycott working in NI, I absolutely love working there and feel like my time is better spent supporting the women there by speaking out in interviews, protesting (As @siobhni and I did on Westminster) etc."
She added: "Derry Girls is filmed primarily in Belfast and it’s not a place I want to boycott, instead I try and speak out and protest for the women of NI. I support their boycott I’m just saying a lot of people seem to turn a blind eye on what’s happening closer to home."
Meanwhile, when Sophie Turner was asked about previously working in the north, she replied: "There was a lot of work of Game Of Thrones there, so luckily we're moving on."
