Western Ireland plans film crew boost

Troy Studios Limerick is scheduled to open soon in a Limerick suburb and will offer 340,000 sq ft of sound studio space and support facilities designed to bring more productions to western Ireland.

The training academy is intended to ensure that Troy Studios has an all-Irish staff within four years.

“In providing world-class film studio infrastructure, Troy Studios will be the enabler for incoming productions that will seek to employ local production crews trained to a very high standard,” said Michelle Brassil of Troy Studios. “The Academy is a significant step forward in meeting this potential demand.”

Troy Studios will have its international bookings organised by Pinewood On Location, a global production services division of Pinewood Studios.

Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way – the colloquial name for the country’s west coast – got a profile boost earlier this year hosting scenes for Star Wars: Episode VIII, which was based at Pinewood Studios near London.

Ardmore Studios and Ashford Studios, both in the east near Dublin, are Ireland’s main studios. Plans are also underway to establish a new filming facility in a former factory in Dublin itself.

Ireland is already a popular filming location due to its generous filming incentive support, which the government is being called on to extend. In the coming weeks Dublin will host filming for thriller We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which stars veteran Marvel actor Sebastian Stan and lists Michael Douglas among its producers.

For more on filming in Ireland see our production guide.

Editor's Note (12/8/16) - This article has been amended after incorrectly stating that Troy Studios would be managed by Ardmore Studios.