Irish premiere of `Star Wars' goes to UNICEF

Clearly, the force is with UNICEF

Clearly, the force is with UNICEF. It has secured the Irish premiere of the year's most heavily anticipated film, George Lucas's Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace.

The event is scheduled for Dublin on Thursday, July 15th, the eve of the film's release in Ireland and Britain.

It helped that UNICEF had a Jedi knight to promote its request for the premiere. It credits Liam Neeson, who plays the main Jedi knight in the film, with persuading the producer and director, George Lucas, to give them the premiere. "We're absolutely thrilled," Ms Maura Quinn of UNICEF told The Irish Times after the arrangements had been completed. "I think it's going to be the hottest Irish premiere in many years. We've been working on this for 2 1/2 years."

In US cinemas fans have been paying $9 to see the trailer of the new Star Wars - and leaving before the main feature. In addition to Neeson, the film features Ewan McGregor as the young Obi-Wan and Jake Lloyd as the young waif who will grow into Darth Vader.

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The film opens in the US on May 19th, and some Irish fans have booked flights to the US.