Hollywood Actor Irishman Patrick Bergin was in Mayo last week for the filming of his role in the feature film production "Secret of the Cave" which is being filmed on Achill Is by a film crew from the Southern Adventist University in the US. Bergin was fresh from shooting his role as a Sheriff in a Western entitled "The Far Side of Jericho".

Bergin believes there is huge potential for film-making in Mayo and Achill and is supportive of a dedicated Film Board for Mayo. "If it was up to me I would be filming in Mayo all the time. It has great scenery and while it is a little far from Dublin, as locals get more interested in film, get trained up a little you will be able to get a crew together locally and that is the big thing. The most important thing and I would encourage anyone to start writing scripts set in Mayo or set in Achill because when you get scripts that are set here that will be the thing to break through."

Bergin says of the Achill film project "From the first line of the script I knew I wanted to be involved because its got such innocence and mystery and it reminds me of the stories I read as a child. Its got a lot of fun and it is a great coming of age film of a young boy and girl."

Bergin plays the father of the film's central character "Roy". Bergin explains "my character brings Roy to the island and he is the sort of character who would have left Achill as a young man who gone to America and made his way and has become a doctor and is now probably advanced in the medical profession, doing research and that kind of thing. A lot of medical events take place in Ireland so it makes sense that he is over here to go to a Medical Conference in Dublin and he is dropping of his son Roy to stay with his brother's family on the island. While he is away Roy has the adventures and I return to pick him up in the end. Like all families there is a little friction between him and his son. You often don't get the time you would like to spend with your children and you get that sense that while he is not a bad father, he is not giving as much attention as Roy gets when he stays with the family and the people of Achill and this helps him grow up."

The actor is now stranger to Mayo and says "Mayo and Achill are wonderful places. I love Achill in fact I have been here two or three times before but this is first time I have actually worked up here and its great. "

Although only on the island for a few days Bergin has enjoyed his time saying "I haven't been up here too long this trip, I have only been here a couple of days but what I have seen has been very interesting and great fun. The locals have been very supportive. The scenery is extraordinary. We have been a bit unlucky with the weather on the days we were working. But in the end we were blessed as my character arrives in the beginning of the film and leaves at the end. We needed him to arrive in dark weather to indicate troublesome times so the weather worked out and we are blessed with a little good weather for the end of the film.

Local Councillor Keith Martin, who has played a central role in assisting the "Secret of the Cave" production, is the proponent of a Film Board for Mayo. Cllr Martin says he is delighted by Bergin's support and enthusiasm for a Mayo Film Board saying "With the support of figures such as Patrick Bergin I see no reason why large budget films like ‘Saving Private Ryan’ or ‘Braveheart’ or home-grown productions such as ‘Showbands’ or ‘Ballykissangel’ cannot be filmed in Mayo. There is no reason why we can't have our own Hollywood or Mallywood here in Mayo."

Cllr Martin says "Mayo needs a film office to promote itself as a venue for filming be it television, documentary, adverts or feature films. The benefits from filming are employment, direct large-scale investment in local communities and a spin off benefit to tourism through Mayo scenery being portrayed on screen throughout the world."

In the meantime the possibility of a Film Commission or Film Office for Mayo is being examined by Mayo County Council as the county is enjoying a resurgence of interest from local, national and international film-makers.

Bergin is now going on to a project entitled "Ghosts of Erin" in Dublin and then straight on to Belfast to shoot another film called "Johnny Was" alongside hard man-actor Vinny Jones. It has also been announced that Bergin has been lined up to play Jim Larkin in a new film about labour leader and revolutionary James Connolly which will be directed by Adrian Dunbar.