Niamh's dream to go to space

'From a very young age, I wanted to go to space,' she says. 'I was very influenced by my Dad and by my older brother John who took me to Star Wars with his confirmation money,' she recalls.

'Then, when I went to secondary school, I discovered boys and I forgot about my dream, I got distracted.'

'However, as I got older, I began to think about it again and it was hard for me to let the dream go. I decided to really try and see if I could make it come true.'

Having studied engineering at UCC, followed by a PhD in food science at UCD, Niamh worked in academia for a number of years before changing career paths and going into acting.

'My first role was in the Town Hall with Dundalk Musical Society in 'New Moon' so I took it up again and was a regular in 'Fair City' for a while.'

As she began to investigate the possibility of space travel, Niamh forged links with the European Space Agency who are sponsoring her to attend a summer school in Ohio in association with NASA.

There is, she feels, a natural link between the arts and science going as far back as the Renaissance when artists were inspired by scientists and vice versa. Last year she worked as artist in residence at the CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory in Cork and has collaborated with Una Kavanagh on 'That's About The Size of It.'

In her latest show 'To Space', she speaks directly to the audience about her dreams of space travel and what it would involve.

It is, she says part 'TED Talk' and part personal, and received enthusiastic reviews at the Dublin Fringe Festival, and she hopes to bring it to the Edinburgh Fringe later this year.

Niamh returns to the Dundalk stage when she presents 'To Space' in An Táin Arts Centre, on Friday, February 27th, with performances at 12noon (for schools) and 8pm.