London is thronged with Laois people right now as an estimated 1,300 of us have descended upon the British capital.
People will continue to arrive on planes right into tomorrow but one Laois man had a very interesting encounter on his way.
Popular Stradbally native Austin ‘Watt’ Clancy spotted former Olympic Council of Ireland President Pat Hickey in the departures in Dublin airport on Friday.
Hickey shot to fame for all the wrong reasons in August 2016 when he was arrested in Rio during the Olympic Games as part of an investigation into alleged illegal resale of Olympic tickets.
He faced charges of facilitating ticket touting, formation of a cartel and ambush or illicit marketing but denied any wrongdoing, and stated he would ‘step aside temporarily’ from all his Olympic positions until the matter was resolved – before resigning completely at the end of 2017.
The 72-year-old was allowed to return home on bail but may yet have to return to Brazil to face trial.
Anyway, when Austin spotted Hickey he asked him to pose for a picture and the former President agreed.
Speaking to LaoisToday, Clancy told how Hickey knew exactly where Stradbally was.
Austin said: “I asked him for a picture and he agreed saying ‘you’re not going to put this all over the place are you?’
“He said ‘fair play for recognizing me anyway’ and then asked where I was from.
“I told him I was from Stradbally and he said ‘oh yes, that’s where Electric Picnic is held’.”
Have you met anyone interesting in London this weekend? Get in touch and let us know!
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