Liam Neeson opens up on troubled relationship with hometown in sad eight-word admission

Liam Neeson has opened up on the relationship he has with his hometown, revealing it is "not home" to him. The 72-year-old hails from Ballymena in Co Antrim but lives predominantly in the States, most notably New York City .

Earlier this year, the Taken star put his jaw-dropping Manhattan condo up for sale for $13 million. The A-lister shared the home with his late wife Natasha Richardson who died in 2009 after suffering a severe head injury while skiing.

Since then, the Schindler's List actor has remained Stateside. He ventured back over to the Emerald Isle , however, to film Irish action thriller In The Land of Saints and Sinners featuring Ciaran Hinds and Colm Meaney.

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On going back to his hometown, Neeson told Screen Rant: "I go back, yeah. I have sisters and relatives there. I haven't been back now since we finished the film , but still. It's not 'home', but it's where I'm from."

The flick, detailing the aftermath of a car bombing and the identification of two bombers, was shot in Co Donegal . From where the crew shot to Neeson's hometown , it was around a three-hour drive.

Neeson's character is a retiree who longs to live a quiet life off the coast of Ireland , but chaos ensues when a group of terrorists threaten his paradise.

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Neeson, an action stalwart who holds Irish, British, and American citizenship , has long been vocal about the strains of growing up in the north of Ireland, The Troubles, and if Irish reunification could happen in his lifetime.

The Oscar nominee, who grew up as a Catholic in a predominantly Protestant town , told Sky News last year: "I think it will happen [reunification] … and I think Britain will be pleased.

“They won’t have to put £50 billion into the Northern Ireland exchequer every year. I think that’s what it costs now... but everybody has to be appeased. The Protestants in the north of Ireland have a strong voice.

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"I hear them and I know where they’re coming from and they have to be respected, if there’s going to be a united Ireland. Their voice has to be heard and they have to be represented … if a united Ireland comes about.”

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