Oscar-winning Hollywood icon Jeremy Irons has given his time free of charge to help a heritage centre produce a series of short films detailing harrowing, true stories of the Great Famine in Skibbereen, Co Cork.

Cork County Council has spent nearly €10m in four years promoting tourism and is aiming to do more to aid the industry.

Hollywood legend Jeremy Irons is expected to lend his support to a campaign to ensure all artifacts discovered in Cork remain in the county and are not sent to the National Museum in Dublin.

A CHOCTAW tribal leader recalled last night how his ancestors’ charity towards Irish Famine victims in 1847 helped forge a unique bond between the nations.