Rave reviews for Mullingar's Niamh Algar as new Sky Atlantic show drops

Mullingar native Niamh Algar is receiving huge plaudits as she stars in the new Sky series “The Iris Affair”. Niamh joins up with the astonishingly good Tom Hollander for this thriller television series created by Neil Cross for Sky Atlantic.

A review of the Mullingar actor's CV indicated that she has trod a diverse acting path. From gritty drama to horror Niamh could not be accused of being typecast. In an interview with the Examiner she recalled her early acting experience in the Mullingar Arts Centre: “My first show was Les Mis. I played a nun in the first half and a sex worker in the second half. I was eleven I think.

“Do you know what it shows? It shows that I had range,” she laughs. Calamity Jane, West Side Story, in which she played a male role, were other successful local productions.

Niamh has since gone on to notable TV roles in 'Raised by Wolves' and Channel 4's 'Pure', and starring as Lucinda Edwards in the series 'Malpractice'. She initially studied design at the Dublin Institute of Technology before her acting talents lead her to the Bow Street Academy in Dublin.

In The Iris Affair Niamh plays Iris Nixon, in a tale of a genius code-cracker, an oddball entrepreneur and an evil supercomputer known as Charlie Big Potatoes.

Niamh was recently immortalised on the wall of her first theatre, the 'A celebration of Irish stars: Réaltaí' mural that can be viewed at Mullingar Arts Centre.

“It's a huge honour,” she said, “It's an amazing piece of art. For a small island we have produced so many artists that get recognised for their work on an international scale.

“I was lucky enough to come from Mullingar, where the Mullingar Centre was such a pivotal and prominent structure within the town. The annual shows, like the musicals, gave young people who perhaps didn't excel in sport or academics an outlet to express themselves.”

That grounding has stood her in good stead: “Sean [Lynch, Arts Centre Operations Manager] was my first director and I learned a huge amount. I think, most importantly, he taught us about playwrights and about writing and understanding where stories come from, but also how to engage with audiences.”

Reflecting on her early acting roles she said: “We're sitting on a stage here where he made sure we understood how productions worked, how the sets get made, how the costumes get made. There were never any small parts, only small actors,” she concluded.