ROBERT Redford is 71 years old, and he'd still give any young buck in Hollywood a run for their millions both in the looks and intelligence department, if his trip to Dublin last week is anything to go by. Redford received an honorary degree from Trinity College, alongside the likes of former Irish President Mary Robinson, and he spent a couple of days in the city touring around and taking in the sights and sounds. He spoke at a public forum in Trinity on the eve of his conferral and had some interesting things to say about his life and political views . . . the latter remarks were picked up by the Drudge Report and other bloggers wanting to pin the Sundance Kid as some sort of loony American riffing on his country while abroad.

"I hope (Barack Obama) win. I think he will. If he doesn't, you can kiss the Democratic Party goodbye. I think we need new voices, new blood. We need to get a whole group out, get a new group in," Redford told the guests at Trinity.

"Where my country is at the moment, I'm not confident of anything. I'm hopeful. I think Obama is not tall on experience . . . but I believe he's a really good person. He's smart. And he does represent what the country needs most now, which is change."

Though he might not admire the current crop of American Democrats bar Obama -- and, certainly, he'd say the same of the GOP -- Redford did state his admiration for one of the old Irish political lions, the freedom fighter Michael Collins who was immortalized in film a few years back, with Liam Neeson expertly playing the Big Fella.

Redford, who won his first Oscar not for acting but directing the gripping eighties drama Ordinary People, said he was interested in bringing the Collins story to screen, but Neeson and writer/director Neil Jordan beat him to it.

"I remember my grandmother talking about him but I was too young to understand it. It's a great story... a guy who flew so close to the sun... so reviled by one side and loved by the other," said Redford.

"When we were shooting Out of Africa I asked a writer to write up a screenplay and a lot of the Irish crew (on the set) said, 'That's not a good idea.'

"Then I heard that Neil was working on it. He did a thesis on it so ... he got there and I didn't."

Redford didn't claim Irish ancestry for sure during his 90 minute talk at Trinity, but said a biographer is in the process of delving into the matter. The star's authorized biography will be published later this year.

"I've heard so much about (possible Irish blood) over the years, however I'm still not sure," he said. "I do have Irish, I know it is in the family but we will have to wait until (the biographer) has finished before we find them out."

Redford, founder of the famous Sundance Film Festival which has screened several Irish flicks over the years, including In Bruges starring Colin Farrell and U2: 3D starring you know who this past February (he confessed to having "some pretty wild nights" with Farrell and the band in Utah), doesn't have a holiday home in Ireland as rumored - not that he wouldn't like to.

"I love Dublin and I love Ireland, but no. I'd love to. I think the way things are in my country, it's a good time to do it."

Yet another great reason to visit Ireland in the future -- a possible Robert Redford sighting!