Neeson named as first Irish UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador

Actor Liam Neeson was today announced as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, the first Irish person to be appointed to this role.

The Ballymena native follows in the footsteps of luminaries such as Audrey Hepburn, Roger Moore, his mother-in-Law Vanessa Redgrave and more recently Lionel Messi and Orlando Bloom.

The Oscar-nominated actor – known for his leading roles in 'Schindler’s List', 'Taken' and the recently released 'Unknown' – has since 1997 provided strong support to the international children’s organization in part through his role as a National Ambassador for UNICEF in Ireland.

“Liam Neeson is not only a passionate dramatic actor, he is a deeply compassionate humanitarian actor,” said Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director.

“UNICEF is very lucky that he is choosing to use his time and talent to support the world’s most vulnerable children, and we thank him for accepting this new role.”

"I am deeply honoured to have been asked by UNICEF to become a Goodwill Ambassador and am committed to working with UNICEF to help children overcome poverty, violence, disease and discrimination across the world," Mr Neeson said.

"It is shocking to me that in this day and age, 22,000 children are still dying every day for want of the most basic things like clean water to drink, a safe place to live or access to medicines when they are sick.

"I am determined to do whatever I can to help UNICEF.”