John Connors: Love/Hate star on facing Traveller discrimination

The Irish actor made headlines earlier this year when he spoke about his mental health battles during an acceptance speech at an awards show

Irish actor and activist John Connors has spoken of discrimination he faced at the start of his career due to his upbringing as an Irish Traveller.

The 28 year old is best known for his role as Patrick Ward in the Irish TV show Love/Hate.

He was in west Belfast on Wednesday to take part in a political debate at the Féile an Phobail festival.

"When I got into acting, no-one wanted to talk about my career," he told BBC News NI.

"I was asked to account for Traveller rural crime while other actors in Love/Hate were asked about their dream Hollywood role. I felt the game was rigged from the beginning."

Connors, who began acting in 2010, still lives on a Travellers' site in Dublin and said he was proud of his roots.

'Fought for their rights'

"The first ever Traveller activist came from my family; it's in my blood and I grew up with politically-minded people who fought for their rights," he said.

The actor is well-known for speaking out about other political issues, including the debate around an Irish language act in Northern Ireland.

A power-sharing deal between Northern Ireland's main parties - the DUP and Sinn Féin - collapsed in January 2017.

Despite several rounds of talks to restore the institutions, the sticking point remains around demands for an Irish language act.

Connors has openly supported calls for such an act and said he could not accept opposition to it from some people in Northern Ireland.

"I don't know why it would harm anyone to give it a legal status, it's not just a language for nationalists or Catholics," he said.

"It's a language for everybody."

John Connors, pictured second from the right, was part of a panel as part of the west Belfast festival, Féile an Phobail

Abortion is another issue that divides people both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and it is also a topic that Connors feels strongly about.

During a referendum campaign earlier this year seeking to reform Ireland's strict abortion laws, Connors posted on social media that he had changed his stance from pro-choice to pro-life.

Asked why, he said: "Every time I described myself as pro-choice I knew it wasn't something I thought about a lot.

'Saddest days'

"Eventually I kind of got a pain in the stomach by saying it, so it led me down a path to research it."

An overwhelming majority of people backed the removal of the 8th amendment, meaning the Irish government is able to bring forward legislation to allow abortion in all circumstances up to 12 weeks.

The actor described the result as "one of the saddest days in Irish history".

"I'm thinking about rights of the child," Connors said.

"It's not to offend women, I just don't think that (abortion) should be legalised anywhere in the world."

Connors previously made headlines when he spoke about his difficulties with mental health when he was named Best Actor at the Irish Film and TV Awards (IFTAs) in February.

He had said he was suffering from severe depression and contemplating suicide, before his brother encouraged him to take up acting and helped change his life.

'New world'

He said he did not expect the response to his speech to be as positive as it was.

"My IFTA speech got more hits than any other IFTA speech ever put online combined, which is mind-blowing," he said.

"The message of mental health got to people, because a lot of people don't speak out about it.

"Creativity can save lives, and it opens up into a new world. It transformed my thinking overnight. I love doing it - it's fun to inhabit other characters and leave yourself behind for a bit."

Connors is currently filming a new crime movie called Let the Guard Down, and will also be seen in a play at the Dublin fringe festival in September.