Belfast rolls out red carpet for Oscar winner

The red carpet has been rolled out as Northern Ireland welcomed home Oscar-winning director Terry George.

The film-maker jetted in to Belfast from the US after a week of celebrations to mark his triumph in Hollywood.

However, an Ulster Oscar bash in his home village of Killough, Co Down, was put on ice for a while longer as he recovered from his transatlantic journey.

George’s film The Shore won the famous gold statue for the best live action short. It is set at the director’s family cottage at Coney Island near Killough, on Strangford Lough.

After landing at Belfast International Airport, the director said it was good to be home.

“It’s great to come home and to visit everyone who made the film possible, the people who were in it, go back and see our neighbours,” he said.

The Shore tells the story of a man who moves to the US to escape the Troubles and returns home 25 years later. It stars local actors Ciarán Hinds, Maggie Cronin, and Conleth Hill.

The film-maker’s daughter Oorlagh, who produced the film, travelled with her father. “I’m really excited to come home and share it with our family who were all in the film and also with everyone who made it possible: Tourism Ireland, Northern Ireland Screen, the cast and crew that we had were so incredible,” she said.

In Killough, locals had partied long into the night as they watched the ceremony live in local pubs last weekend and are hoping for another shindig later in the week with George and the statue as star guests.