By Áine Leech
Gardaí have been praised for saving the day of two local Ed Sheeran concert-goers last Saturday.
Claire Bagnall from Rochfortbridge and Clodagh McEntegart from Dalystown had made the trip to Dublin to see their favourite singer play to a sell-out audience.
Travelling to the event by bus, Claire and Clodagh decided to separate from their friends, and upon arriving in Dublin city found themselves in unfamiliar territory.
As the girls tried to gather their surroundings, they were approached by a passerby in his 20s, who offered them assistance. “He asked us were we lost and we thought he was trying to help. He was around the same age as ourselves so we thought he was genuine.”
At this point, Claire and Clodagh’s evening took a turn for the worst. “He just grabbed my ticket and ran. We were half expecting him to turn back and say he was only joking,” said Claire.
Standing in complete disbelief Claire thought all hope was lost and told her friend, Clodagh, to go ahead into the concert without her. “It was a terrible experience to find yourself in. I didn’t see any point in going to the Gardaí, but Clodagh just kept saying, ‘come on we have to do something.’”
Clodagh’s positivity led them to the nearest Gardaí and she remained in good spirit to try and cheer Claire up. “I just thought we might as well try something. I kind of knew they wouldn’t find the guy but I had hoped they’d be able to sort something.”
After finding Gardaí close to one of the entrances to Croke Park, Claire’s frame of mind still hadn’t changed, with Gardaí taking her name and contact details.
Despite the pair’s low hopes, two non-uniformed guards came to the rescue and attempted to find the culprit who had robbed Claire’s hard-earned ticket, driving the two girls around Drumcondra in effort to catch the thief, but to no avail.
“To be honest I was still thinking the worst,” said Claire. “I was even thinking what if these aren’t real Gardaí, what are we doing. They drove up with no uniforms, just flashed their badges.”
Thankfully Claire’s bad luck came to an end just as the girls thought that their day had been ruined, with Gardaí going on to escort both Claire and Clodagh into Croke Park.
“The Gardaí brought us in past all the queues and up to customer service. Because Clodagh had taken a picture of the tickets on Snapchat, we were able to confirm with the desk-point our seat numbers, and who we had bought the tickets off,” said Claire.
In a whirlwind series of events, Claire said that the whole thing happened in less than an hour. “After it all, I was just in such a sense of shock that it took me a while to get into the concert, however the Gardaí did say we were very lucky it was just a ticket and that we didn’t get hurt.”
Amazed that the Gardaí had gone to the extent to help the two girls, Claire reckons she knows the reason for the generosity. “It had to have been because I was sobbing my eyes out, like I was inconsolable!” she jokes.
It was an eventful day for Claire and Clodagh to say the least, but one which the pair will likely remember for years to come.
