Saipan to begin filming in Belfast this week

The filming of Saipan, a movie based on the lead-up to Ireland's 2002 World Cup campaign, is set to get underway in Belfast on Thursday, producer Trevor Birney confirmed to RTÉ.

The five-week production will be filmed at locations around Ireland, Northern Ireland and Spain.

Saipan centres on Ireland's infamous World Cup campaign, in which captain Roy Keane was dramatically sent home from the 2002 World Cup when the team was preparing in Saipan following a public quarrel with manager Mick McCarthy. The Manchester United midfielder was reportedly enraged by the living conditions and logistical organisation surrounding the squad’s preparation on Saipan, small Pacific island in the Marianas, leading to a very public spat with McCarthy. The incident divided public opinion in Ireland about who was to blame.

Cork actor Éanna Hardwicke is set to play Roy Keane, while Steve Coogan has been cast as Mick McCarthy.

"Ultimately it's a universal story about two men who wanted the same thing but just really couldn't agree on how to go about it," said Birney, adding that Hardwicke's Keane is "stunning", and that Steve Coogan as Mick McCarthy would be "mind-blowing".

The film is being directed by award-winning filmmakers Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa. The duo were behind the critically-lauded 2013 Irish comedy-drama Good Vibrations, which focused on Belfast punk-scene pioneer Terri Hooley and his record shop during the Troubles.

In a statement, they said they were delighted to be able to work on the film focusing on an "infamous moment in Irish and football history".

“We’re thrilled to be working with this extraordinary cast and creative team to tell the story of an infamous moment in Irish and football history that drew battle lines across a nation, cast its hopes, dreams and sense of identity into disarray, and briefly made a tiny volcanic island in the Pacific one of the most famous places on earth,” they said.