As the Notorious himself, Conor McGregor spewed after another first round knock out in the UFC, we're not here to take part, we're here to take over.
McGregor is already one of the biggest names in the UFC, but there are other talented Irish folk making huge waves abroad and the below are damn near on the cusp of superstardom.
Sam Keeley
Offaly native Keeley has gone from strength to strength since bagging his first role in The Other Side of Sleep, having responded to an open casting call. That led to a role in the lauded What Richard Did, and, even more impressively then being cast in Ron Howard epic, Heart of the Sea, opposite Chris Hemsworth and Cillian Murphy. While he'll next be seen playing a solider in Monsters: Dark Continent, probably most impressively he'll star opposite Bradley Cooper, Emma Thompson and Jamie Dornan in the highly anticipated (if still untitled) chef flick from Hollywood heavy hitter, John Wells.
Eve Hewson
Hewson may have a very famous father, but she's not dining out on the family name at all. The stunning Dublin actress has quietly been gaining momentum, taking strong roles in excellent TV and film productions. She's currently starring opposite Clive Owen in Steven Soderbergh series The Knick, and appeared in the beautiful, understated Julia Louis-Dreyfus/James Gandolfini relationship dramedy, Enough Said. What may really drive Hewson to an astronomical level of fame will be her hefty role with Tom Hanks in Steven Spielberg war epic, St. James Place which is currently shooting.
Jack Reynor
Reynor burst onto the scene with a searing lead performance in the rightfully lauded What Richard Did. He then took a chance, borrowed a few quid from his 'Richard' director Lenny Abrahamson and headed to Hollywood. Roles opposite Vince Vaughn in Delivery Man, and Mark Wahlberg in the mega-hit Transformers: Age of Extinction followed. He's carried that momentum forward and currently has Glassland (with Toni Collette) in the can, the Jim Sheridan flick The Secret Scripture, Michael Fassbender starring MacBeth and a voicing gig in Jungle Book: Origins all to come in 2015.
Hozier
Not since Sinead O'Connor's captivating arrival in the United States more than two decades ago has an Irish artist made such waves across the Atlantic as Hozier. It's barely been a year since the Wicklow man's breakthrough track 'Take Me To Church' was released and we suspect even Hozier himself couldn't have anticipated the massive attention the track would bring him. Appearances on David Letterman and Ellen served to underline his promise but last weekend's featured guest slot on Saturday Night Live looks to have announced the arrival of a supreme talent across the ocean. If Hozier can become this big in just a year, we can't even begin to speculate how high his star will rise in another twelve months.
Jack Grealish
Although he’s only featured a few times for Aston Villa so far, there’s no doubting that the distinctively-bequiffed young man is already on the radar for a lot of football fans both at his club and here in Ireland. His appearance against Hull earlier in the season saw his ability to distribute the ball and take on a player, as well as his ability to take his fair share of punishment, as several different opponents went to work on him. What has given his profile an even bigger boost is the fact that, despite having played for Ireland's youth setup from a young age, the English FA are doing their best to get him to declare for their senior side, which speaks volumes about what’s in store from the young man in years to come. While he may yet decide that he wants to represent them across the water, football-mad Michael O'Leary of Ryanair fame seems to be on the case, having offered free flights to his family if he declares for us, so that’s that sorted. Either way, he’s a young talent who has shown, albeit in flashes, that he may well be one of the most exciting footballers that Ireland has seen in a long time. If he proves he can do it regularly, we could be looking at a once-in-a generation star.
