Plenty of celebrities and style at Dublin premiere

KITTY Kiernan would have loved it. Limousines, fur coats, spotlights and celebrities last night's European premiere in Dublin of Michael Collins had all the ingredients of a truly glamorous evening.

In anticipation of the string of stretch limos and screeching fans, gardai cordoned off half of O'Connell Street from early evening and, the No. 1 Army band took up its position outside the Savoy, keeping the patient and very cold crowd entertained with brisk renditions of Molly Malone.

The early arrival of Pierce Brosnan caused a stir. In the flesh, the former 007 star looks so smooth he could be Teflon coated. He's in Dublin filming his new movie, The Nephew.

After that it was a chilly wait for the Michael Collins people whose flight from Cork was delayed. This meant paying film goers were seated for well over an hour before the stars arrived. The eventual the arrival of Liam Neeson, Stephen Rea, Aidan Quinn and the film's director Neil Jordan injected more than a bit of star magic into the evening.

For many at the premiere it was a chance to see how their relatives were portrayed on screen. Michael Collins's nephews, Liam and Michael Collins were there, as was his great niece, MEP Mary Banotti. Kitty Kiernan's sons Felix and Michael Cronin arrived, as did US ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith who has a small role in the film.

Politicians, usually highly visible at film premieres, were thin on the ground though Bertie Ahern, Michael D. Higgins and a spectacularly dressed, black boa wearing Liz McManus were spotted in the foyer.

Liam Neeson's mother travelled down from Ballymena for the evening and proudly predicted that her son "would definitely win an Oscar for this one".

Warner Brothers was inundated with requests from nearly 400 charities requesting that the Dublin premiere be for their benefit. In the end, the evening was in aid of the Michael Collins Memorial Foundation.

Unusually, the entire Savoy complex was taken over for the event. The film was screened simultaneously in all five cinemas which meant that over 1,800 people saw it last night. Tickets were £100 and £25. All the stars sat in Savoy 1 so that anyone who had paid £100 for the obvious delight of rubbing shoulders with Liam Neeson all evening could have found themselves in Savoy 4 looking at him only on screen.

What the £100 ticket definitely bought premiere goers was a buffet supper in Dublin Castle after the film with all the stars.