Academy Award winning actress Helen Mirren recalled the poverty she witnessed in Dublin in the '80s when she was filming a movie in Ireland.
The actress, who stars in the upcoming film The Duke, explained to Oliver Callan on The Ryan Tubridy Show this morning that she had never before witnessed poverty like what she saw when in Dublin.
The actress joined host Oliver to speak about The Duke and how it deals with topics such as poverty and class in Britain.
When Oliver said that the actress' character Dorothy had a sort of "Irish mammy" resemblance, Helen drew similarities between Dublin and towns in Northern Britain.
She revealed: "Excalibur was made in Ireland. I saw kids without shoes in Dublin at that time. There was incredible poverty in Dublin in that era.
"That sort of poverty [is something] I hadn’t really witnessed before.
"That was the kind of poverty you could see in Northern towns in Britain at that time."
But many listeners were stunned by the star's claims, saying she had over-exaggerated the levels of poverty in that capital at the time.
One listener texted in saying: "No shoe's on children in the 70s in Dublin? Could this be right? I definitely had shoes."
Another said: "I am 68. I've never seen anyone young or old out in public without shoes in Dublin or anywhere in this country, apart from on the beach."
Opposing that, one person texted: "Inner city Dublin was a depressing dreary place in the late 70s and 80s"
"Memory is not a very reliable witness", Oliver told listeners.
Helen starred in Excalibur alongside Irish stars Liam Neeson and Ciaran Hinds. Ciaran was nominated for an Oscar earlier this week in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role in Belfast.
Speaking about The Duke, which will be released in Irish cinemas on Friday, February 25, Helen explained how the film deals with poverty and working class issues as it tells the story of Kempton Bunton, a 60-year-old taxi driver who steals Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London.
Played by Jim Broadbent, Helen describes the character of Kempton as having his "knickers in a twist" about certain political and social issues.
She told Oliver: "He was a man who was very intelligent, very creative but living in an economically deprived area of London in the early 60s."
Helen also revealed that she didn't know much about the story before signing up to do it, and was shocked when she found out that the script was based on true events.
To get the latest breaking news straight to your inbox, sign up for our free newsletter
