Liam Neeson to be honored by Speaker Christine Quinn in St. Patrick’s Event

Northern Irish actor to receive the Thomas Manton Irish Man of the Year Award

By: IRISHCENTRAL STAFF WRITERS | Published Sunday, March 17, 2013, 9:26 AM | Updated Sunday, March 17, 2013, 9:26 AM

Golden Globe winning actor Liam Neeson will be honored with the ‘Thomas Manton Irish Man of the Year Award’ at an event in New York’s City Hall this Monday to mark Irish heritage month.

Christine Quinn, the Speaker of the New York City Council is hosting the event, which is expected to attract hundreds of people on Monday March 18.

Siobhan Dennehy Executive Director of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center, Deputy Chief James McGovern from the NYC Department of Sanitation and Peter J.F. Meijer of Team Rubicon will also be honored at the annual event.

The Tony Award winning cast of the hit musical ‘Once’ will entertain guests at Monday’s the City Council event.

The Irish Man of the Year Award is named after late Congressman Thomas Manton. Past recipients of the award include the late Senator Edward Kennedy and NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly.

Neeson, who hails from Ballymena in County Antrim, is well known for his roles in movies like Schindler's List, Michael Collins and most recently ‘Taken 2.'

The award winning actor is currently filming an adaptation of Lawrence Block’s ‘A Walk Among The Tombstones’ in New York.

The 60-year-old Hollywood star plays a former NYPD cop and recovering alcoholic Matt Scudder, who is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.