It gave me the shivers to see my Millennium Falcon on the screen, says Strabane scaffolder who built Star Wars’ famous spaceship
A STRABANE man who built the Millennium Falcon on rugged cliffs at Ireland’s northern tip has said the sight of his creation in The Last Jedi sent shivers down his spine.
Eddie Gallen, a specialist in extreme scaffolding, assembled the famous Star Wars spaceship at Malin Head in Donegal.
Sworn to secrecy at the time and in the months leading up to the film’s pre-Christmas release, Mr Gallen (48) has now recounted his experience with the cast and crew during four weeks last year. The father-of-two, who hails from Lifford in Co Donegal but lives in Strabane, said the Star Wars team did not give much away when they signed him up.
He said: “I didn’t know until the last minute when I was handed a sheet of paper with my name on it, and it was basically saying you are building the Millennium Falcon here.
“It was a bit of shock. I went back home and my wife and two boys were standing in the kitchen and they asked: ‘How did you get on today?’, as you would when you arrive home. I said: ‘Not bad, I have to start building the Millennium Falcon’.
“They all just stood and stared and said ‘what?’ and I said: ‘Yes, I have to build it down on Malin Head’.”
Mr Gallen’s reputation for taking on challenging scaffolding jobs saw him land the dream commission. Long before Star Wars arrived in Ireland, he spent a decade working on and off at another famous landmark that would go on to feature in The Last Jedi and The Force Awakens — the spectacular island of Skellig Michael off the coast of Co Kerry.
The 12 x 12 metre Millennium Falcon was brought over to Malin Head from England in sections. Mr Gallen and his team had to assemble those within a scaffolding support structure.
“We had to build it on the cliff edge and anchor it well because Malin Head is always very windy,” he said.
“Most of it had to be supported with our scaffolding — then we had to put it all together, the panelling etc, stick it all together and turn it into a spaceship, a pretty famous one at that.”
Mr Gallen was invited to a special premiere screening of the movie in Letterkenny, Donegal, earlier this month. “Watching it sent shivers down my spine,” Mr Gallen revealed.