Reunion call for locals involved in War of the Buttons filming

A CALL has gone out for locals who starred or were involved in the shooting of ‘The War of the Buttons’ to mark the 25th anniversary of the film, which was shot in various West Cork locations in 1993. 

A planned reunion involving cast, crew and locals is to take place in the West Cork Hotel in Skibbereen this August and organisers are hoping that those involved in the David Puttnam-produced film will attend.

‘We are hoping to gather all the cast, crew and those locally who worked on the film to come to Skibbereen to mark this anniversary as the film wouldn’t have been made without the people of West Cork,’ said one of the organisers, Paul Batt, who played Gorilla in the film.

‘David Puttnam along with director John Roberts and casting directors Ross and John Hubbard have all confirmed their attendance and we have most of the cast confirmed so far and it would be great for locals who worked on the film to come to this event.’

As well as a special screening of the film, there will be a meet and greet afterwards and a chance for all those involved to catch up and recall stories from that summer 25 years ago when Hollywood came to West Cork. 

Some locals got roles as carpenters, drivers or extras, while other got their first taste of movie-making, leading to a careers in film and television. Skibbereen itself became the unofficial HQ of the set with restaurants, B&Bs and pubs all benefitting from the influx of cast and crew.

Last September, several of the cast attended a special screening of the film at Cork City Hall for Culture Night and they included Gregg Fitzgerald (Fergus), Paul Batt (Gorilla), Gerard Kearney (Big Con) and Eveanna Ryan (Maria).

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