Liam Cunningham discusses the Irish government and the future of his Game of Thrones character at Web Summit

The loss of the Web Summit "by people who probably don’t know how to turn on a mobile phone" is "an embarrassment, and it shouldn’t have happened", according to Irish actor Liam Cunningham.

Cunningham was speaking at the event today, and he says the government’s role in the decision to move the Web Summit’s to Lisbon is "an embarrassment".

"I would literally have to kill you. If I told you, they’d kill me," he told a packed audience at the Web Summit. 

Cunningham says he is as up-to-date with the story as readers of the original novels - but he shared that he has yet to open one of the best-selling books upon which the series is based.

"It was never going to happen," he said. "I saw the size of the first book and my first reaction was ’I need to break a leg and be in hospital for six months before I can throw myself into this’. 

"To be honest with you, a actor’s bible is his script. David [Benioff] and Dan [Weiss]’s bible are the books. I didn’t want the books getting in the way of the script.

"George [R. R. Martin] has pulled me up on it a couple of times. He’s asked me, have you read the books yet?"

He shared that Martin is struggling to write his characters without being influenced by the actors portraying them.

"He’s finding it difficult to separate himself from what he’s seeing on television. He has no choice but to start hearing voices of the people he’s writing for. It’s not going to affect their journey’s but it will affect their character."

Cunningham revealed that it was the convenient filming location combined with brilliantly written scripts that led to him agreeing to join the Game of Thrones cast.

"Most of it takes place an hour and a half up the road from here," he said. "We’ve been in Spain for the last while, but we’ve also done Iceland, Morocco, Malta, Croatia, but 80% of it was shot in this country.

"The scripts were beautiful and it’s up the road. I don’t have to get on a plane. I can literally get in a car here and be in Westeros in an hour and a half," he said.

We may be left wondering about Ser Davos Seaworth’s fate, but Cunningham was resolute on the fate of another beloved character - Jon Snow.

Fans of the Night’s Watchman were left broken-hearted when their worst fears were confirmed by Cunningham.

"Jon Snow is deader than dead," Cunningham shouted in response to an audience member’s question. 

Cunningham believes Irish acting and filming is benefiting from modern technology. Where once an actor would need to travel to the States for an interview or an audition, now it can be done over Skype. However he confirmed that cast members have been annoyed by major spoilers on Twitter ruining the show’s surprises for viewers.