An arresting visit

THEY SAY never meet your heroes but after a few close encounters with some of his own, Wicklow RNLI Press Officer Tommy Dover doesn’t agree.

Tommy and the RNLI crew received some unexpected visitors in 2010 in the form of Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle. The pair were in Wicklow filming scenes for ‘The Guard’ when the crew invited them in to the station.

‘Brendan was outside dressed in his guard uniform having great craic when people walked past and wondered if they recognised him,’ laughed Tommy. ‘ They came into the station and had a look around. Brendan Gleeson was brilliant. He did a series for the BBC about lifeboats so he knew a little bit about it.’

Following the station tour, the actors posed for a photo with the crew and signed the guestbook.

‘We got quite a bit of publicity for that,’ said Tommy. ‘It was really good publicity for the charity.’

The RNLI crew were starstruck once again in 2013 when Saoirse Ronan came to town while filming horror flick ‘Byzantium’. According to Tommy, she was happy to put on the RNLI gear and pose for a photo with them.

The visits are just some of a string of celebrity encounters that the crew have had over the years. Tommy vividly recalls the filming of ‘ Taffin’ in 1987, which saw Pierce Brosnan take on the leading role.

‘ They were filming all around the castle and everyone was following Pierce Brosnan! He was a very approachable person,’ said Tommy.

Other productions that Tommy has seen in the making include ‘ The Blue