The Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTAs) attracted a stellar celeb crowd on Saturday night at the Hilton Hotel in Dublin … and an even bigger bunch of nobodies in the audience who wouldn’t keep their mouths shut during the televised ceremony.
Irish broadcaster RTE was pelted with abuse during and after the show, which ran 25 minutes over its allotted time – no shock there – and was disrupted by noise to such an extent that people watching at home could barely hear what was happening on stage.
“The award ceremony which celebrates excellence in Irish television and film was a badly produced shambles … it was a hard to watch embarrassment,” Bernice Harrison of The Irish Times wrote.
Even Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams got in on the act, tweeting during the broadcast, “IFTA Awards programme probably wudnt win any awards (sic).”
RTE was due to repeat the broadcast on Sunday afternoon, but pulled the show allegedly because it ran past its time, but more likely because the sound quality was such a disaster. Next year they should insist on shutting the bar and tossing the losers in the crowd who can’t show respect.
Irish stars Jamie Dornan, Michael Fassbender and Colin Farrell made the scene, along with a host of other big names. Dornan, who’ll star in Fifty Shades of Grey next year, collected two trophies for Best Rising Actor and Best Actor in a Lead Role for Television for his turn in the British drama The Fall.
Fassbender – who attended the event with his parents and not his rumored new girlfriend Naomi Campbell – won a Best Supporting Actor award for his work in 12 Years a Slave.
“It’s great to come home,” said the 37-year-old who was raised in Co. Kerry. “It’s great to see old friends and colleagues that I haven’t seen in a while.
“It’s always a nice atmosphere here. It’s nice to celebrate Irish talent. There is a real wealth of talent coming from Ireland.”
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