He’s earned a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award… But Martin Sheen could soon be the proud recipient of Ireland’s IFTA Award.

The 71-year-old half-Spanish/half-Irish actor, best known for his turn as the U.S. President on The West Wing, has received a leading actor in a film nomination from the Irish Film & Television Academy.

Sheen earned the nod for his role as Irish priest father Daniel Barry in the Irish film production Stella Days, a film about a small town cinema in rural Ireland that becomes the setting for a dramatic struggle between faith and passion, Rome and Hollywood and a man and his conscience.

He faces some tough competition from Michael Fassbender (Shame), Brendan Gleeson (The Guard) and Ciaran Hinds (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) in the category.

The Irish Academy’s awards are handed out annually, aiming to celebrate Irish talent in both film and television.

“Ireland’s economic struggles have been well documented, but against this pressure it’s heartening to see how Ireland’s hard-working creative community continues to punch above its weight and really deliver,” says Irish Academy CEO Aine Moriarty.

This year’s awards will be presented in Dublin on February 11.