Actor Liam Neeson ‘taken’ by surprise with student’s portrait

A-LIST actor Liam Neeson was ‘taken’ by surprise after receiving a portrait from former St Paul’s, Greenhills student Lauren White Murphy in New York.

Neeson was attending a fundraiser at the Irish Consulate in New York, for Irish charity the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust on October 6.

Lauren, a multi-talented writer, composer and voice-over actor in the US, presented the Ballymena man with a picture of him and his late mother Kitty.

Lauren has worked on projects such as Orange Is The New Black (2013-18), and said that the picture made Neeson “tear up.”

In a social-media post, Lauren said: “He found me with my particular set of skills.”

“It wasn’t on the cards for 2023, but I wanted to do something special for him,” said Lauren.

“We all need our mammies, and I had this conversation with him. She was 93 and had a great life. My closest people have lost their mothers and it’s evident, but they’re around and I did what I could to warm this man’s heart.”

The event, hosted by the Emerald Guild of New York, raised $20,000 for the Trust, which was founded in memory of Newry man, Kevin Bell, who was killed in a hit-and-run crash in New York, in 2013.

Kevin’s parents, Colin and Eithne Bell, started a fundraising campaign to repatriate the 26-year-old’s body in the wake of his death.

After more money was raised than needed, his parents used the extra funds to help other families facing the pain and cost of bringing deceased loved ones home to Ireland.

In 2016, the Trust helped a Tallaght family repatriate Linda O’Mara, who died whilst on a holiday with her husband Jim in Portugal.

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