Iconic Irish Actor To Receive IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award!

10 Jan 2025, 01:40 by Shannon Keenan · SPIN South West

Colm Meaney is set to be honoured with an IFTA Lifetime Achievement award!

The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) has announced that iconic Irish actor Colm Meaney will be honoured with the Irish Academy Award for his Lifetime Achievement, and for his outstanding contribution to the Irish and international screen industry.

His career, spanning five decades, has seen him work with renowned filmmakers including John Huston, Robert Redford, Michael Mann, Jim Sheridan, Neil Jordan, Alan Parker, Warren Beatty and Ron Howard; and alongside actors such as Al Pacino, Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Bruce Willis, Anjelica Huston, Hugh Grant, Nicolas Cage, John Malkovich, Julie Walters, Brian Cox, Samuel L. Jackson, James Caan, Burt Reynolds, Patrick Stewart and Michael Gambon, to name a few.

Meaney will be presented with the Award in the presence of industry colleagues, friends and family, at the upcoming 22nd Anniversary IFTA Awards Ceremony, which will take place on Friday, February 14th at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre.

This year’s Awards Ceremony will welcome Irish and International Guests from all around the world for a great gathering of industry peers, to mark the incredible achievements of the Irish screen industry, at home and abroad. Actors, Filmmakers and International Guest Presenters will join in the home celebration of Irish talent and storytelling, and to reward excellence in Film and TV Drama.

Responding to the announcement, Colm said: "To say I was surprised when I got the news that IFTA wanted to give me this award, would be an understatement. I was truly shocked. To be asked to join this long list of very illustrious previous recipients is a huge honour, and I'm thrilled and looking forward to a good night in Dublin on the 14th of February. Thank you to the Academy. It's a source of great pride and joy."

Acknowledging Meaney’s contributions to the Irish screen industry, IFTA CEO Áine Moriarty said: "Colm is one of Ireland’s most beloved and versatile actors, with a one-of-a-kind warmth and roguish persona and wit that has endeared him to audiences right across the globe. His illustrious screen and stage career has shown him to be such a skillful and nuanced actor as well as a superbly funny leading man."

"Despite his international success, Colm has always been an unflinching supporter of home-grown Irish projects and talent coming through. The Irish Academy is honoured to pay tribute to Colm’s achievements, and his remarkable career."

Colm has maintained an incredible career across five decades as a hugely admired actor both in Ireland and internationally, with a body of work as diverse as it has been entertaining, bringing characters to life on screen from earth to outer space.

Since he began studying in the Abbey Theatre School, he has appeared in countless stage productions alongside his exceptional body of film and TV work, making an indelible mark both at home and abroad.

Meaney starred in all three films in Roddy Doyle’s Barrytown Trilogy in the 1990s - The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van, winning the hearts and minds of audiences everywhere and receiving a Golden Globe nomination in 1994 for his lead performance in The Snapper.

While continuing to work in Irish productions, he gained global recognition as Miles O’Brien in the Star Trek franchise, and has appeared in Irish and international films such as Intermission, The Dead, The Last of the Mohicans, Con Air, Layer Cake, Under Siege, Far and Away, Marlowe, Tolkien, Seberg, The Damned United, The Banker and Die Hard 2. From 2011-2016, he played the villainous role of railroad magnate Thomas C. Durant in the AMC series Hell on Wheels.

In the past year, Meaney has starred opposite Barry Keoghan in Bring Them Down and opposite Liam Neeson and Kerry Condon in In The Land of Saints and Sinners, as well as a lead performance in The Problem With People.

He will soon be seen in Jim Sheridan’s Re-creation alongside Aidan Gillen and Vicky Krieps, and in TV series The Panic and Safe Harbor.

Colm Meaney’s love for Ireland, Irish culture and native language has been close to his heart, a passion and insight that shone through in his remarkable lead performance in Tom Collins's Kings in 2007. He won his first Irish Academy Award in 2003 for his performance in How Harry Became a Tree, and won again in 2017 for his role as Martin McGuinness in The Journey opposite Timothy Spall.

He has been IFTA nominated a further 5 times for his performances in Kings, Parked, Hell on Wheels, Pixie and Gangs of London.

On stage, Meaney has appeared in a wide array of productions including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on the West End, and opposite Denzel Washington in the Tony-nominated Broadway production of The Iceman Cometh.

In 2007 he received a prestigious Olivier Award nomination for his role in A Moon for the Misbegotten at London’s Old Vic.

While he continues to bring great characters to the screen, Meaney also maintains his long-standing role as an outspoken advocate for social justice, frequently appearing in Irish media to speak passionately on a variety of issues, and has become one of Ireland’s most-loved creative voices.

The 2025 IFTA Nominations will be announced next Tuesday, January 14th.

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