"Absolutely charming" was Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness's verdict on Meryl Streep, following the powerful impression she made during a very short visit to Belfast on Saturday.
The great Hollywood actor was in town to lend her support to the new Metropolitan Arts Centre to be developed in the lively, slightly bohemian, Cathedral quarter of Belfast.
She was invited to the city by Anne McReynolds, project director for the new centre set to replace the Old Museum Arts Centre (Omac) in the city centre.
How did the centre manage such a scoop? "Anne knew somebody who knew somebody who knew Meryl, and she was delighted to come," explained the arts centre's press officer, Joe Nawaz.
Streep gave good value for her flying visit. Not only did she provide a master class in acting for a small, select audience at Omac, but she joined the great and the good, including Mr McGuinness, for a grand fundraising dinner at the Belfast Harbour Commissioners on Saturday night.
The new theatre will cost £16.5 million (€24.3 million), of which the Arts Council and Edwin Poots' Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure are providing the bulk. But the theatre has to find £1.25 million itself.
Streep, appearing gratis, attracted 120 people to the dinner and raised at least £60,000 to assist the project.
Streep told Mr McGuinness that she was very excited about the positive political developments in the North.
"She was very well-informed," he said afterwards.
Earlier that afternoon, the three-times Oscar winner arrived at the Omac theatre in a Bentley for an interview by BBC's Wendy Austin.
This was then followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience on the art of acting.
A small crowd gathered to greet her, with one woman inquiring if she enjoyed the recent Barbra Streisand performance in London. "Wow! What a concert," said one diva of another.
Did she always travel by Bentley, she was asked. "Oh, is that what it is?" she said, looking at the vehicle. "Judging by my answer, clearly not."
She was delighted to be able to support the new arts centre.
"I'm proud to come to Belfast to celebrate this city's commitment to the centre and its great, good work," she said.
"I believe in the power of art to transform communities and I want to support the final push for the new Omac centre.
"I believe it is important to support artists, especially young artists and local artists," she added.
More philosophically, Streep said that it is "sometimes easy to despair in the face of world events" and that was why "the project is a cause for celebration and a template for hope".
