President to receive Honorary Award at IFTAs

Taking place at the DoubleTree Hotel this Saturday, April 5, the IFTA Awards Ceremony will bring together the terrifically talented likes of Neil Jordan, Jim Sheridab, Steve Coogan, Colin Farrell, Jeremy Irons and Colm Meaney as the Irish Film & Television Academy recognises Irish creative talent at home and abroad.
On the night, President Michael D. Higgins is set to be presented with an Honorary Award in recognition of his Outstanding Contribution to the industry.
The President was Ireland’s first Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in the mid-'90s, during which time he had a key role in introducing the measures that have aided our indigenous film and television industry in growing and thriving.
He was behind tax incentives, restructuring the Irish Film Board, establishing TG4 and abolishing the controversial Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act.
Higgins even encouraged Mel Gibson to shoot here and, in 1994, Braveheart became the first blockbuster film to use Ireland as a location.
Academy chief exec Aine Moriarty said: “This industry has worked hard and grown from strength to strength delivering world-class standards of Screen production and the Academy is proud to pay tribute to President Higgins who has shown the Irish industry unwavering support over many years as a creative artist in his own right, as the Minister for Arts, a dynamic leader and as President of Ireland.”
The IFTA Awards Ceremony will be broadcast on RTÉ One at 9.35pm this Saturday.