Celebrities Protest Ouster of Unicef Ireland Chief

The actors Liam Neeson and Vanessa Redgrave have pulled out of planned projects with Unicef Ireland to protest the charity’s dismissal of its executive director, Melanie Verwoerd, The Irish Times and Irish broadcaster RTE report.

Mr. Neeson, a Unicef Ireland ambassador, dropped out of a charity trip to Mozambique this weekend, calling Ms. Verwoerd’s firing a “profoundly damaging loss” and urging the United Nations agency to give her another job.

Ms. Redgrave, a goodwill ambassador for the children’s charity and the mother of Natasha Richardson, Mr. Neeson’s late wife, opted out of producing a September benefit for the organization in Dublin.

The charity broke its silence on the matter Wednesday, disputing Ms. Verwoerd’s assertion that she was fired by e-mail earlier this month because of continued news-media attention to her relationship with Gerry Ryan, a popular Irish television personality who died last year.

In a statement, Unicef Ireland said its board decided to end Ms. Verwoerd’s contract due to differences over the charity’s direction and that it paid her two years’ salary as part of a negotiated settlement.

Ms. Verwoerd told the Irish Independent that she has not accepted the payment and plans to sue the charity.