Robert Carlyle and GillianAnderson are being lined up to star in The Mighty Celt, a coming of age talebased at Robert Walpole and Paddy Breathnach's Irish company TreasureEntertainment.

BBC Films and the NorthernIreland Film & Television Commission are to bankroll the production, whichis set to shoot in Northern Ireland this month. The picture, which also has UKNational Lottery cash, would mark Anderson's return to UK filmmaking after shewon acclaim in Terence Davies' House Of Mirth.

Ken Stott, who recentlyappeared in King Arthur, is also expected to appear.

The Kes-like story iswritten and to be directed by first timer Pearse Elliot, who wrote Breathnach'sMan About Dog, which Element X is selling at Cannes.

Set against the backdrop ofpost-Troubles Northern Ireland, the story revolves around the relationshipbetween a young boy and a greyhound.

Dublin-based TreasureEntertainment, grew out of Treasure Films, which has credits including IWent Down, Saltwater and Southpaw.