Saoirse a happy lassie after Sassie find

YOU can give a 14-year-old an Oscar nomination and oodles of fame, but all she really wants is her beloved dog.

Sassie is Saoirse Ronan’s pride and joy, so when the border collie went missing before Christmas, the child actor was distraught to say the least.

Yesterday, giggling, smiling and posing for photographers, the Carlow-based Hollywood star held Sassie close. She doesn’t want to lose her again.

“I just broke down in tears and cried when my dog was found. It was brilliant, the best feeling in the world,” she said.

Sassie was found by Eva Murray, who works for animal welfare charity the Irish Blue Cross, while she and her boyfriend were out shopping in Tallaght.

“She was haggard and tired. We fed her, cleaned her and put an advertisement in local newspapers and on the internet,” said Ms Murray.

The advert was spotted by Saoirse’s grandparents who had been minding the dog while the young actor was at the Golden Globes in the US.

Yesterday she joined Irish Blue Cross staff and volunteers to appeal for funds to build a state-of-the-art hospital at their Inchicore, Dublin HQ.

Spokeswoman Jenny Schutz said €200,000 had been raised towards the €450,000 cost.

Blue Cross operates three mobile clinics for people who cannot afford veterinary fees.

Nationally, 17,000 dogs are put to sleep every year and yesterday Saoirse was just glad Sassie was not one of them.

“Blue Cross are really special people,” she said, adding her 10-year-old pet has been given a microchip which will ensure she is never lost again.

Next week she is off to New Zealand to finish filming ‘Lovely Bones’, directed by Peter Jackson who put together the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy.

She will also appear with Bill Murray in ‘City of Amber’, a sci-fi epic, and later in ‘Death Defying Acts’, a thriller about Harry Houdini. She played an English child in ‘Atonement’, an American in ‘City of Amber’ and has mastered a Scottish brogue for ‘Death Defying Acts’.

Yesterday, with parents Paul and Monica watching, she said she’d love to play an Irish girl and work with director Jim Sheridan. “I love doing the accents, but I’d definitely love to do a film where I have and Irish accent. I’m not too bad at Cork”.

Before the work begins she is home in Tullow going swimming, playing tag rugby and enjoying sleepovers.

The normality is vital. “A lot of people recognise me now, but some people just stop and stare at you,” she explained.

She definitely won’t be replacing Sassie with a handbag-based mini-pooch, Paris Hilton style. “Whatever floats your boat like but I wouldn’t be into it. I like Hollywood but I can’t ever see myself living there.”

© Independent.ie