This article is from page 2 of the 2011-09-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
SINEAD O’Connor left Lisdoonvarna this weekend without finding love, but matchmaker Willie Daly is determined to find the lovelorn singer a man.
Sinead was introduced to a single farmer by Willie and his daughter Claire last Friday but the amount of interest in getting a glimpse of Sinead prevented the couple from really getting to know each other.
But Willie will keep her information on file and hopes to find her another match once the media glare has passed.
“Sinead came in and talked to me for more than half an hour and told me what she was looking for. One of the main things that she was after was a farmer – that is something that would appeal to someone living life in the fast lane. She didn’t say anything to me about the appearance of the man but she said that she wanted to meet a kind person, maybe someone of 40 years or older. She did say that she was looking for someone with stubble and there were plenty of men with beards around the town over the weekend,” said Willie.
“We introduced her to a very nice person. He was a big fan of hers and was very smart looking – he had a farm and a business. They talked for a while in our office and while that was going on a lot of people came in to get photos with her. She was nice about it but after a while she said she was leaving. So maybe Sinead might get back to her match once people are not around.
Despite Sinead’s failure to land a man in Lisdoonvarna, two of her male minders did find some companionship thanks to Willie.
“She had two young lads with her and I introduced them to some girls – I met them late on Sunday night and they said that they had enjoyed themselves anyway. I know that they did get some companionship while they were there.”
Sinead’s visit to Lisdoonvarna also had a benefit for tourism providers in the locality with the biggest crowd for the second weekend of the festival in years.
“Sinead O’Connor’s involvement certainly did help the local tourist trade. The local hotels were never as busy with a lot of people coming to meet Sinead and that was a boost locally,” said Marcus White from the Matchmaking Festival.
“But the festival has also helped people. The dancing is a great boost for a lot of people and a lot of the older people were especially happy in Lisdoonvarna. In the past people were a bit shy about coming to Lisdoonvarna, because they though you had to be single to come here, but these days about half of the people come to Lisdoonvarna to dance.”