The Biography

Paul Ireland (born 1970, Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, Scotland) is a Scottish actor, producer, and director who moved to Australia in 2009. Before pursuing acting, he worked as a fishmonger in his father's shop in Greenock, Renfrewshire, for five years. He made his professional stage debut in 1995 in the West End's Trainspotting at the Ambassadors Theatre, which won the Sunday Times Best New Play award. He is married to casting director Thea McLeod, with whom he has a son, Finn Ireland, also an actor. His most notable screen roles include Superintendent Duncan Hayes in the Australian soap opera Neighbours (2011–2025) (Aaron Pedersen, Stefan Dennis), the Barman in Michael Radford's B. Monkey (1998) (Ewan McGregor, Ralph Fiennes), and Joel Parker in the ABC comedy Outland (2012). He also co-wrote, produced, and directed the Australian drama Pawno (2015), and appeared in New Gold Mountain (2021).