Ballintoy blockbuster!World-wide smash ‘Game of Thrones’ will use local harbour

BALLINTOY is set to get world-wide exposure when scenes for the next series of the blockbuster tv series ‘Game of Thrones’ will be filmed there in the summer, writes Nevin Farrell.

Ballintoy Harbour will be transformed into a medieval setting for the fantasy adventure series which was described by ‘Game of Thrones’ Location Manager Robert Boake as “possibly the biggest tv series in the world at the moment and certainly Europe it is by a mile”.

The current series of the show is on tv screens at the moment on Sky Atlantic and has been filmed at locations throughout Northern Ireland leading to a major boost to the film industry.

Moyle Council has an interest in Ballintoy Harbour and Mr Boake attended a meeting of the Council in Ballycastle to ask them for co-operation in filming there.

Mr Boake works for a company whose parent organisation, one of the world’s leading production companies - HBO - produces ‘Game of Thrones’.

The series makers want to restrict access to the public at Ballintoy Harbour for a time during the summer and are offering several thousand pounds of cash to the local community as a token of their appreciation.

Moyle Council has agreed in princple to the harbour being used for ‘Game of Thrones’ subject to locals agreeing.

The series producers will move in to Ballintoy Harbour between July 25-29 for what they call ‘soft prep’ and there will be more detailed set preparations between August 1-5.