Daniel Day-Lewis is the first person to be granted the freedom of County Wicklow.
Actor Daniel Day-Lewis has attended many award ceremonies, but at a truly original occasion held in Rathnew, he becomes the first person to be granted the freedom of County Wicklow.
Wicklow County Council Chairman Derek Mitchell explains why Daniel Day-Lewis was chosen to receive this honour,
He's one of the most famous residents of County Wicklow.
The London-born actor has made the Wicklow village of Annamoe his home and
It is an honour for us to have him here.
The conferring ceremony takes place before an invited audience. Among those in attendance were politician Liz McManus, film producer Noel Pearson and Daniel Day Lewis’s wife the writer Rebecca Miller.
In his acceptance speech, Daniel Day-Lewis speaks of what Wicklow means to him,
This is the place that sustains me, it’s the place where I planted myself.
He adds,
When the work is done, it's to this place that I return to as a refuge.
Daniel Day-Lewis is placed on Wicklow’s role of honour and presented with a specially commissioned Sun Disc created by local artist Brian Hackett.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 27 April 2009. The reporter is Sinéad Crowley.
