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Dublin Live
Entertainment
Roisin Butler

RTE host Rick O'Shea thanks Russel Crowe for 'brilliant support' after surprise €5,000 donation to book club

Ireland’s largest book club has received €5,000 from actor Russel Crowe for a second consecutive year.

The Rick O’Shea Book Club, ran by the RTE broadcaster, launched their charity appeal this year for homeless charity Peter McVerry Trust and the DSPCA. The campaign has been largely successful, having raised an impressive €31,000 to date.

Rick thanked Russell Crowe for his “bafflingly brilliant” support of the campaign. The RTE broadcaster had gone online last year to tease that the charity appeal could do with an influx of donations from the mega wealthy.

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Rick wrote on Instagram: "Thank you to the legendary Russell Crowe for the most bafflingly brilliant support of The Rick O'Shea Book Club Xmas Appeal, again!”

He added: "I had thought we wouldn't make €25,000 this year, now we are over €30,000 and counting. That's €190,000 raised over the five years."

The campaign remains open until the end of the year, with donations being split equally between the two charities. Rick also joked that he owed Russel a few pints as a result of his charitable endeavours.

Russel Crowe’s donation, which is public on iDonate, was penned with the words “all the best for Christmas.” The book club, which boasts 40,000 members, is hoping to beat last year’s sum of €43,000 in donations.

The Hollywood actor visited Ireland in recent months to film a new movie entitled “The Pope’s Exorcist.” The star also featured on an episode of The Late Late Show back in September, where he performed a rendition of “Blackjack County Chains.”

The Gladiator actor wrote on Twitter: “Love going on the Late Late with Ryan. Here’s a little tune.”

The campaign remains open until January 4 2023. You can donate to the fundraiser here.

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