Good news girls -- we may be welcoming Hollywood hunks Jake Gyllenhaal and Toby Maguire here shortly.

The Diary can reveal that plans are afoot to stage an Irish premiere of Jim Sheridan's new blockbuster movie Brothers in a bid to light up the Dublin scene this winter.

Oscar-winning director Jim explained how the release date had now been set for his long-awaited movie, which he described as a "love story", and he hopes to be rolling out the red carpet in Ireland.

"Its official release date is December so we're going to have a proper premiere in New York for that, but what I really want is to have a premiere in Ireland as well, probably in late November.

Tonic

"We filmed the movie in New Mexico and it stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Toby Maguire," he said.

He added how a glitzy premiere with some of the movie world's biggest names was the "perfect tonic" to all the doom and gloom that has prevailed in Ireland over the recent months.

Although the Irish movie industry has been badly affected as a result of the downturn, ambitious Jim -- who won an Oscar for My Left Foot -- has never been so busy.

"The movie's coming out on December 4 and they want to go for a wide release with it. I'm also working on a psychological thriller and I'm trying to do a few other things," he added.

The Dublin movie mogul was out turning on the smiles for the cameras this week after lending his name to the Yes campaign for this Friday's forthcoming referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

After getting political to join the campaign spearheaded by the Screen Producers Ireland, Jim explained his reasons for getting behind the Yes faction.

"I think we're nuts to vote No, I think Yes is the only vote that's feasible. Do we really want to be on the edge of Europe or something and have to convert to sterling?

"I'd have to go over to England and change money all the time over there and I wouldn't like that," he laughed.

And he also lashed out at the way the country had been governed for the past number of years, launching a broadside at Ireland's financial institutions.

"We've been leaving politics to the politicians for the past 10 years -- with disastrous results. We've also left it in the hands of the bankers and look what they did.

"I suppose all the bankers all the way around the world have been caught with their trousers down but in Ireland, they were especially bad. It seems crazy to me," he continued.

Also at the photocall was fellow Irish director and award-winner Neil Jordan, who premiered his new movie, starring Colin Farrell and entitled Ondine, to much acclaim.

It was on this movie's set where the Castleknock superstar met his pregnant girlfriend Alicja Bachleda, it's due to premiere in Ireland shortly before Christmas.

Breakfast

But Neil, the acclaimed director behind Breakfast on Pluto, revealed he is also putting pen to paper to write his first book.

"I'm writing a novel at the moment and I'm about to make another movie, I'm doing lots of stuff," he explained.

While admitting he "knew nothing" about politics, he claimed he was keen to throw his support behind the campaign for the Yes vote as he reckoned it would be good for Ireland.

"I grew up here in the 70s and I saw how the country was transformed by the EEC. It was a nice place then, it's marginally nicer now and we owe the EU a lot," he added.

- Melanie Finn