BRITISH actress Minnie Driver, pregnant with her first child, took her activism on behalf of breast cancer awareness to Dublin last week, where she launched a tote bag specially designed for Irish department store Brown Thomas by Diane von Furstenberg, with all proceeds going towards the 2008 Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign.

Irish ladies responded enthusiastically at the chance to own a von Furstenberg bag for only *45, as the large yellow totes flew off the shelves after Driver's introduction. She involved herself in the campaign after losing her two grandmothers to breast cancer.

Driver is no stranger to Ireland. In 1995 she starred in the charming film version of Circle of Friends, one of Irish novelist Maeve Binchy's many best-sellers. The film was set in 1950s Ireland and Driver played the lead character, Benny Hogan, to perfection. The cast, which also included Chris O'Donnell and Alan Cumming, spent several weeks in Ireland on location.

"It's wonderful the way you can walk down the streets of Dublin in peace, and everyone is friendly and gives you space," Driver told the Irish Independent last week.

She also applauded the dress sense of Irish ladies. "I think, even looking around here today, there is a great sense of fashion. I think they are a lot better dressed than the American women who are waif thin and stick to a uniform style. Irish women are individuals who buy to suit their own figures and personalities."

After all the hoo-ha surrounding her visit died down, Minnie did indeed stroll the streets of Dublin at ease, though one of the British tabloids, which photographed her clearly unaware that she was being followed, said she looked "miserable" in Dublin.

"Despite splurging in the Armani concession at swish department store Brown Thomas, the 38-year-old brunette failed to get a retail high," the Daily Mail reported.

Man, give the pregnant lady a break! What is it they say about no good deed going unpunished?