Bond(s) dinner with James Nesbitt at Dublin Castle
IRISH actor James Nesbitt, star of TV’s action drama Lucky Man and much-loved series Cold
Feet, might not have got the call to play James Bond just yet — a role he has said in the past he’d love to play — but he will be the star guest this Thursday at a black-tie dinner in Dublin Castle organised by construction surety bonds firm DRS Bond Management.
Many of the country’s largest builders are expected to turn out at the event, which will also support the Peter McVerry Trust.
DRS is a challenger firm from the UK aiming to win a share of the market for surety bonds, which are an alternative to bank guarantees. The majority of claims are made when contractors become insolvent, and about €70m in annual premiums for €3.5bn of bonds are written in Ireland, managing director Chris Davies said.
So far his firm has secured six of the top 50 firms as ranked by the Construction Industry Federation, in a market that is dominated by banks including AIB and Bank of Ireland, but he sees scope to grow here in line with the growing construction sector.
Dining with the top builders from the likes of Sisk and the Lucky Man star will be British ambassador Robin Barnett and guests from the Construction Industry Federation and British and Irish Trading Alliance.
Nesbitt, who has also starred in Tolkien trilogy The Hobbit and drama The Missing, should have no shortage of stories to regale them with, having driven a speedboat down the Thames, crashed and chased cars, and dodged bullets in the TV action series.