Yorkshire has a place in Niamh's heart as she returns to the stage

It is more than 10 years since the actress left YTV's Heartbeat where she starred as Kate Rowan, wife of Pc Nick Rowan, played by Nick Berry, when her character was killed off.

Niamh, 50, took the decision to leave Heartbeat after three years and five series when she became pregnant with her, son Callum, to actor Finbar Lynch.

She had a flat in Harrogate during filming and commuted between there and London.

"I loved being in Heartbeat, but once I had a family I wanted to be based in London. It was the right time for me to go. We have always made sure that one of us is around for Call," she says.

"Everyone was fantastic on Heartbeat, it made it such a wonderful experience, not just the actors, but the entire crew and that is why it is so desperately sad they have decided that it will be no more."

YTV announced last year that Heartbeat, which attracted more than 10 million viewers in its heyday, would not be recommissioned, a victim of the recession and a slump in advertising revenue.

"It is such a shame for all those people who worked on the show. Actors come and go, we expect that, but for the production and admin team it is their livelihoods."

Niamh is hoping to look up some of her old colleagues while she is in Yorkshire this week playing Charles Dickens's wife in Andersen's English at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, in Leeds.

"It is a fantastic play," she says. "It is quite unusual as it is a new play written in a Victorian style about characters and stories we

all know."

Set in the house of Charles Dickens, an unexpected guest arrives, celebrated children's writer Hans Christian Andersen.

The play explores Dickens's home-life, and what happens behind closed doors when a stranger comes to visit.

"Dickens was such a celebrity at the time that it does have resonance today," says Niamh who admits that, while enjoying film and television, theatre is her first love.

"Theatre was where I started, and I love the way your performance grows as you play it."

Coming from such a theatrical dynasty as the Cusacks, it was not surprising that Niamh ended up an actress, although she says many thought she would not follow in her parents and sisters' footsteps.

"Everyone was sure I'd slipped the net," she says. "I was going to be a musician."

Niamh trained to be a flautist at the Royal College of Music and worked for a year at the RTE National Symphony and Concert Orchestra before she followed her sisters, Sinead and Sorcha, into acting.

"I had decided I wasn't going to be a musician and was thinking of going back to education. I wanted to do an A-level in England as I had done my qualifications in Ireland. The French course was booked up and so I went on the drama course, which was excellent. I went to see the Three Sisters and I thought this is what I am going to do."

She says the Cusack name has helped open doors along the way, especially at the beginning of her career.

"Although I do think it means people often expect me to be better than I am."

Although acting is her first love, family is tremendously important to her.

The tour of Andersen's English is only the second time she has been away since Callum was born. He is now 14.

"I miss him," she says Niamh. "I love working, but it doesn't beat family."

Andersen's English runs until February 27. For tickets, visit www.wyp.org.uk or by calling the Box Office on 0113 213 7700.