IT was a case of VIP gridlock alert in Dublin last week, and celebrity watchers were the gleeful beneficiaries. A gaggle of stars - Mel, Daniel, Bo, Colin, Charlize to name a few - arrived in the Irish capital for a whole bunch of events that firmly established Dublin as a stop on the celeb map of cool places to be seen.

The photos speak for themselves, right? Many of the notables walked the red carpet at the Irish Film and Television Awards on Sunday night at the Gaiety Theatre, chief among them Mel Gibson, who picked up an award for outstanding contribution to world cinema.

"I'm no good at writing speeches," he said, "so boo me when you've had enough." Yeah, right! The audience gave him a standing O, and there were no protestors in sight despite members of the Irish Jewish community expressing outrage that Gibson, who used anti-Semitic slurs while being arrested for drunk driving in 2006, would be chosen for such an honor.

Gibson, an Irish passport holder, said he thoroughly enjoyed his few days in Ireland, and that his Longford-born mother "would love to have been here for this." He also said he would like to film in Ireland again, a pretty good idea seeing that his last Irish outing, Braveheart, won a whole bunch of Oscars (and earned a whole ton of cash!)

Mel's Hollywood friend and co-star Rene Russo traveled to Dublin for the ceremony. "I'm not here for that long and this is my first time so I had to get a quick trip yesterday and it was amazing. I had the best ice cream in the world," she told the media.

Russo isn't exactly an Irish moniker, and she confirmed that Irish roots aren't in her lineage. "My Irish connection is Pierce Brosnan," she said, making note of her Co. Meath-born co-star in The Thomas Crown Affair.

Bo Derek and her beau John Corbett - he played the adorable Aidan, victim of Carrie Bradshaw's Big obsession, on Sex and the City - were at the film awards and the Irish Meteor Music Awards a couple of nights previous as presenters, but they didn't do much talking.

Colin Farrell gave the awards' red carpet a skip and entered through the back door to present Saoirse Ronan, the Oscar nominated co-star of Atonement, with the Rising Star honor, which was accepted by her grandparents. Saoirse is currently in New Zealand filming, but no doubt will make a stop in LA this weekend for the Academy Awards, where she's a Best Supporting Actress nominee.

Other winners at the awards included Jonathan Rhys Meyers for his starring role in The Tudors - he was on hand with his on-off girlfriend Reena Hammer - Hilary Swank for P.S. I Love You (writer Cecelia Ahern accepted on her behalf), and Daniel Day-Lewis for - what else? - There Will Be Blood.

Co. Wicklow resident Day-Lewis wasn't at the ceremony, but he did attend the Jameson International Film Festival a couple of nights earlier with his wife Rebecca. The film fest was choc-a-bloc with stars, including the aforementioned Farrell, who shilled for his new one In Bruges with co-star Brendan Gleeson.

Charlize Theron and her Dublin boyfriend Stuart Townsend were also there to promote Stu's film Battle in Seattle, which co-stars Oscar winner Charlize, who told the media yet again that although she and her man are blissfully happy, she has no plans to formally marry.

Sometimes it can be a case of feast or famine when putting together this page, but not this week! Did you see Monday's headline that Farrell is one of the actors - along with Jude Law and Johnny Depp - tabbed to take over what turned out to be the tragic Heath Ledger's final role in a film called The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus? More on that anon.