Although they are more accustomed to runways and photo studios than microphones and podiums, Irish supermodels Jane Bradbury and Caitríona Balfe are both leading the way in fighting for causes they believe in.
Caitríona Balfe is strongly opposed to the war in Iraq and is spearheading the anti-war movement in the fashion industry. When Irish America spoke to her, she was busy distributing anti-war t-shirts that she designed at Milan’s Fashion Week. The Dublin-born beauty said, “I had the t-shirts printed in New York, where I live, and all the models will be wearing them this week. We have so many different women from so many different countries and we want to say that we believe in peace.” Balfe’s anti-war stance has been given much attention by the media, and knowing that the world is watching, she has put a lot of thought into the message of the t-shirt. The back of the shirt reads “give peace a chance” and each model will write the translation for peace into her own language on the front. Said Balfe, “I am involved in various other causes, but this is my priority at the moment.”
Not surprisingly, she and her fellow Irish supermodel Jane Bradbury know each other through their charity work. The two met up recently in Dublin at a function for Ali Hewson’s Chernobyl Children’s Project. Bradbury, who hails from Kildare but has lived in New York for almost six years, has been a tireless charity globe-trotter over the years. With Irish relief organization GOAL, she has visited and worked on projects in India, Cambodia, and Kosovo. This year she plans to help out one of her friends, the Czech model Tereza Maxova, who has founded a charity based in Prague. Bradbury also has plans to travel to Africa to help out her brother, who is spending a year working for the community in Uganda. When she’s not traveling far and wide helping the poor, she is also building on her acting career. She had a small role in Roman Polanski’s The Ninth Gate and is currently on the audition circuit. But one of her major priorities is her charity work. Said Bradbury, “I believe that to those that are given a lot, a lot is expected.” ♦
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