Liam Neeson: A united Ireland will happen if everyone is appeased
The 70-year-old actor, who grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, said Protestant and Catholic voices have to be heard.
Liam Neeson has said he thinks a united Ireland “will happen” if all sides are appeased.
The Hollywood star, 70, who grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, said Protestant and Catholic voices have to be heard.
Speaking to Sky’s Beth Rigby Interviews, the Taken actor said: “I think it will happen but, you know, everybody has to be appeased.
“The Protestants in the north of Ireland have a strong voice.
“I hear them, I know where they’re coming from, and they have to be respected.
“If there’s going to be a united Ireland, their voice has to be heard and they have to be represented, if a united Ireland comes about.”
Neeson told of theatres receiving bomb threats while he was working as a stage actor.
The actor also said the Good Friday Agreement, signed on April 10 1998 to bring an end to the Troubles, was “an extraordinary achievement”.
He went on: “There was just a feeling in the air, you know, of change – and change for good.”
Neeson currently stars in Marlowe, which will be his 100th film, and tells the story of a brooding, down on his luck detective hired to find the ex-lover of a glamorous heiress in Los Angeles.
Neeson’s role of detective Phillip Marlowe, is based on the famous character created by American-British author Raymond Chandler.
Speaking at the film’s London premiere, he told the PA news agency: “I felt honoured to play him.
“I’m an avid reader but strangely enough I have not read Raymond Chandler until I knew I was doing the film – it was just a great discovery.
“He was a most extraordinary writer and a most extraordinary character.”
Neeson said it had been “cool” stepping back into the 1930s, being able to wear suits and trilby hats.
Asked what drew him to characters such as Marlowe, he added: “They have a certain code of ethics that’s rapidly disappearing in today’s world.
“Some people might say it’s old-fashioned but I don’t. It’s a lovely code of ethics and a code of behaviour.”
Marlowe is due for UK release on March 17.
