Actor Neeson honoured at NY fundraiser
Actor Liam Neeson has been honoured by an American-Irish organisation at an event which raised a record $3.5m (€2.2m) in New York this week.
The ceremony in the Lincoln Centre was attended by fundraisers, who included elite business people from both America and Ireland.
The America Ireland Fund (AIF) was set up over three decades ago by Sir Anthony O'Reilly, chief executive of Independent News and Media, and Dan Rooney, and still promotes peace initiatives, mainly through sport in Northern Ireland.
And $650,000 (€419,000) of the fund was raised solely through contributors in Ireland alone.
Both Neeson and Loretta Brennan Glucksman, whose late husband Lewis Glucksman worked for the fund, were honoured at the ceremony.
Others at the event included former Irish rugby internationals Trevor Ringland -- who works for the affiliated Peace Players organisation in Northern Ireland -- and his former teammate Hugo McNeill.
Trevor accepted a €640,000 donation from the AIF on behalf of Peace Players, which introduced the neutral game of basketball to address sectarian challenges and foster tolerance by enabling both Catholic and Protestant children to play the game together.
The mixed games are helping to foster new friendships amongst the once-fractured communities.
Commenting on the honour he received, Liam Neeson said: "Enormous strides have been made in my native Northern Ireland in the past decade, demonstrated by political, social and economic changes that came about through courage, generosity and persistence.
"The American Ireland Fund has been instrumental in investing in the social changes and has tirelessly supported peace, education, arts and reconciliation projects on the island of Ireland. I am proud to have been able to play a part in the organisation's efforts."
