Aine Ni Mhuiri Best Actress

Aine Ni Mhuiri began acting at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Her career is linked with some of that theatre's great successes, notably Brian Friel's The Loves of Cass Maguire and Sean O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars, which toured New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington. She also appeared in several productions in the Irish language including Brian Merriman's The Midnight Court which was directed by Siobhan McKenna. Over at Dublin's famous Gate Theatre she played in The Voices of Shem, the stage adaptation of James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake. In 1989 Aine was cast as Masie Madigan in the London National Theatre production of Juno and the Paycock. Other stage credits for her include Midnight Court, and David Storey's Home played at the Irish National Theatre's Peacock Theatre; the Olympia Theatre’s production of The Infomer; and Medea as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival.

In 1987 Aine played opposite Maggie Smith in The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, the film version of Brian Moore's novel. The success of this production led to numerous other roles for Aine in feature films including The Field, Playboys and The Run of the Country. Aine’s most recent movie is Puckoon, the film adaptation of Spike Milligan's Irish classic novel. Puckoon is currently being screened at the Cannes Film Festival and will be released later this year.

For RTE Aine played Brendan Behan's mother, Kathleen, in the series Teems of Times. Other television triumphs for her were Miracles and Miss Langan, The Irish RM, The Price, and of course her famous “Lily” in Fair City, a character that she played for seven series. Then came the BBC Northern Ireland smash hit, Ballykissangel and her role as Kathleen Hendley, Defender of the Faith.

Aine Ni Mhuiri, pronounced Anya knee Worry, lives in her native city of Dublin, with her husband, who is a teacher of mathematics, and their two children. They have been married since 1973. She lends her talents to the annual RTE telethon, a day-long event which raises money for charity. She supports the Special Olympics, Enabling Ireland, Trocaire and The Irish Red Cross. In the parish she lends her voice to the celebration of the mass in Gaelige.