Success for Offaly in IFTA nominations

There were celebrations in Offaly this week after two nominations for the prestigious Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTAs) made their way to the county.

Sam Keeley from Tullamore has been nominated in the Lead Actor in a Drama category for his role as Eric ‘Viking’ Kinsella in the crime series 'Kin.

'Kin dominated the list with 13 nominations, including Best Drama, as well as director, script, actor (twice) and actress.'Nothing To Declare' was nominated in the Short Film category.

The documentary was written, directed and produced by Garret Daly, Managing Director of Mixed Bag Media, a Daingean-based production company.

It tells the true story of two Irish boys who ran away from home and ended up in New York and qualified for consideration for an Oscar nomination after it won a major award at the International Galway Film Fleadh.

Garret decided to make the film about two young boys, Keith Byne (10) and Noel Murray (13) from Darndale who ran away from home in August 1985 and travelled to New York without plane tickets.

The IFTAs will hold a virtual awards ceremony in March and an in person event in April in Dublin. The Virtual IFTA Awards show will be hosted by Deirdre O’Kane and will be broadcast on Virgin Media One on March 12.