Hollywood star Steven Seagal coming to Cork for World Peace Gathering

Former Hollywood action star, renowned sword collector, and personal friend to Vladimir Putin, Steven Seagal is coming to Cork to help promote world peace.

The World Peace Gathering is due to take place this weekend in Dripsey Castle, which is near Coachford, and the Under Siege actor is billed alongside artists, musicians and Native American leaders for “a historic and profoundly spiritual occasion”.

A vocal supporter of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr Seagal, a Michigan native, was granted Russian citizenship in 2016, and in 2018 Vladimir Putin, who described Mr Seagal as a “personal friend”, appointed him Russian envoy to the United States.

Celebration

Mr Seagal is part of what is described as “a celebration of peace, healing, cultural exchange, and indigenous wisdom”.

Organised by Kindred Spirits Ireland, the World Peace Gathering will see hereditary Chief Phil Lane Jr, a member of Ihanktonwon Dakota and Chickasaw nations, sign what is described as “a binding planetary peace treaty to end war”.

The festival will also feature representatives from the Cherokee, Apache, Navajo, Cheyenne, and Choctaw nations, as well as members of indigenous people from around the world.

The gathering is billed as “a solemn and sacred acknowledgment of the deep and painful legacy of genocide shared by the indigenous peoples of the Americas and the Irish people — two ancient and resilient branches of the human family”.

Other guests include Julian Lennon, son of the late Beatle John, Chief Standing Bear of the Fishing Lake First Nation, Irish-Palestinian songwriter Róisín El Cherif, Irish songwriter David Keenan, Navajo and Cheyenne poet Dr Lyla June Johnston, and Mary Francis, co-founder of the Navajo-Hopi Covid Relief Fund.

The World Peace Gathering runs from Friday, July 18, to Sunday, July 20, with weekend passes costing €230. See Eventbrite for details.