Location filming started in Northern Ireland on Friday on The Great Ceili War. The $7.7m (£5m) film about brothers who lead rival bands is directed by John Irvin and will shoot for four weeks in Belfast and Glenarm, County Antrim, before relocating to the Isle of Man. The script is an original screenplay written by Nicholas Adams.

Richard Taylor, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission welcomed the production to Northern Ireland saying, "The fact that such an experienced team has come here is testimony to the rising popularity of Northern Ireland as a film location." The Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission has for several months been preparing for a major expansion of its remit and activity, an announcement on which is expected in the near future.

The Ceili War cast includes Bernard Hill, Colm Meaney, Andrea Corr, Philip Barantini, Shaun Evans, and Charlotte Bradley. Corr who played supporting roles in Alan Parker's The Commitments and Evita is better known as lead singer with her siblings, The Corrs. The soundtrack will be put together by John Hughes, the manager of the Corrs, and may include some of the most prominent musicians and vocalists in Ireland.

The Great Ceili War is a presentation of First Look Media and Studio Hamburg WWP of an Evzen Kolar and Antony Rufus Isaacs production in association with Bill Kenwright Films Limited of a John Irvin Film. Kolar and Irvin previously collaborated on City Of Industry. Overseas Film Group will handle foreign sales and North American theatrical will be through First Look Media.