Love store-y Leap proposal 19 years after meeting in Tesco
A WOMAN proposed yesterday on Leap Day and vowed “there is no way” that the couple will wait until their engagement anniversary in 2028 to get wed.
Teenage sweethearts Deirdre Barry, 35, and fiance Colum Battigan, 37, have been together for 19 years since they met as part-time Tesco workers in 2005.
Deirdre got down on one knee and popped the magic question yesterday and Colum accepted, just four weeks after the couple had their first baby.
The overjoyed bride-to-be told the Irish Mirror: “The poor lad was in shock when I asked him.
“We have been together 19 years since we met when I was 17 and he was 19.
“I’m 35 now and Colum’s 37. We were kids, working part-time in Tesco.
“We’ve been too busy travelling to get married and we do everything backwards.
“We bought our house first, then we had baby Sophie four weeks ago and now we’re going to get married.
“Sophie was with us when I proposed. It was brilliant. I think Sophie won it for me. Who could say no, knowing I’ve waited 18 years?
“My mam and dad are delighted. They’re over the moon.”
Deirdre entered a competition with Radio Nova to win a €5,000 engagement ring with Martin Gear Jewellers.
The couple, both from Clonsilla in Co Dublin, now plan to get married “maybe next year”.
Deirdre said: “We’ve talked about getting married for years. I knew the Leap Year was coming up and Sophie was born in the same month as it.
“So it was perfect to do it on Leap Year Day. We don’t know yet when we’ll get married, maybe next year.
“We’re definitely not waiting until the next Leap Year Day in four years’ time. I’ve waited long enough.”
As Deirdre got fitted for her engagement ring, she revealed that she told Colum that they were one of the last remaining couples of the radio competition.
She told the Irish Mirror: “I told him that we were in the final three.
“I told him it was a Mr and Mrs competition and made him practise questions on Youtube with me. That’s what he thought we were doing at the jewellers.”
Radio Nova presenter PJ Gallagher said: “Colum was lost, he couldn’t breathe.
“He was genuinely rocked. It’s a great story for the baby Sophie, who slept through the whole thing.”