Star Wars' Ballymena-born Jedi Knight, defender of peace and justice in the galaxy, was asked yesterday for his thoughts on the latest twist in the North's peace process.
Liam Neeson casually brushed the question aside in his deep, mild voice. "I don't want to get into that," he said. "There's enough people talking about that without an Irish film star commenting on it." Asked was he saddened by events at Stormont, he replied: "constantly".
The 42-year-old actor, who plays Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn in Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace, was in Dublin for the Irish premiere of the film last night.
At a press conference in the Shelbourne Hotel before the screening, he watched another premiere - a short film to promote donations to UNICEF, of which he is a patron. Neeson appears in the film, which will be screened on Aer Lingus's transatlantic flights to encourage donations of spare foreign currency to the charity.
The Change for Good project, a joint initiative between Aer Lingus, its cabin crew and UNICEF, has raised £600,000 since its launch in December 1997. UNICEF's Ms Maura Quinn said she was "mystified" by the generosity of Aer Lingus passengers whose donations were funding projects in countries such as Kosovo and Ghana. The proceeds from last night's premiere of raised more than £100,000 for UNICEF's work in Kosovo.
Mr Neeson said he had no film work lined up and he hoped to do some fly-fishing soon and more work with UNICEF. The star of Michael Collins was asked what Irish person he would most like to play on screen next. Ian Paisley, he replied, while declining to do an impersonation.