FOUR Irish artists have been invited to join the prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body which nominates and votes on the Oscars each year.

IRELAND’S Academy Award-winning animator has described the feeling of collecting his Oscar for visual effects on blockbuster film Avatar as “an incredibly surreal moment”.

Ireland’s Oscar nominations will be celebrated this week with a special screening of all three films up for a prestigious award.

A COLLEGE in the Dublin suburb of Ballyfermot, which has been inextricably linked with this year’s Hollywood Oscars, yesterday previewed four potential winners.

IRELAND has a lot of good things to be animated about for a change with two Irish made films – The Secret of Kells and Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty – among this year’s Oscar nominations.

TWO Irishmen were last night toasting possible Oscar success after they were nominated for their work on Avatar and Star Trek.

COMEDIAN Kathleen O’Rourke, the voice of Granny O’Grimm, is looking for a free frock to wear at next month’s Oscar Award night in Hollywood.