BELFAST HAS stood still over the past few weeks, as superstars ‘One Direction’ stopped by for performances in the city’s Odyssey Arena.
Thousands have seen the boys perform so far, but four ladies from Tempo went one better on Friday night, meeting the stars backstage.
Una and Karen McHugh, along with Maeve McCaffrey and Una (her mother), travelled from Tempo to see One Direction perform, gaining backstage entry through a fellow Tempo resident who is related to band member Niall Horan.
“The tickets came out a year ago in February 2012 and I had bought some already. However, a good friend of my mother (Geraldine) who lives in Tempo is a relation of Niall Horan from the band. Maeve’s mother is also a good friend of hers, and about a month ago she came to us out of the blue and very kindly offered us some complimentary tickets and told us we could have a chance to meet Niall backstage,” explained Una, a 17 year-old student at Mount Lourdes Grammar School in Enniskillen.
Una and company travelled up to Belfast early on Friday, while Geraldine (Niall’s relative) travelled behind in a car along with Niall’s mother and stepdad.
“I couldn’t believe I was having a meal with Niall Horan’s mum,” Una continued.
“His family are very friendly, warm-hearted people and are very easy to get on with, we all had a great time chatting about the boys and their tour.”
The band consists of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson – and registered four sold-out shows in the arena.
Then, before the concert started, the band’s crew guided the four of them to the backstage entrance. Una then spotted Niall inside his dressing room.
“We could see Niall inside and my heart nearly stopped – it was so surreal seeing him in person. He was getting his hair done in preparation for the show so his relatives went inside the dressing room and we waited outside in the corridor.
“While we were waiting, Harry Styles walked out from a door a few metres down the hall – I was absolutely gobsmacked! He’s very tall and slim in real life, and very, very good looking. He was really friendly, and a very polite boy. He hugged us all and got pictures with us before strolling down the hall back to his dressing room. We saw Louis Tomlinson coming out from the wardrobe department, and his girlfriend was there too. Then Niall came out and got pictures taken with everyone and was very friendly and bubbly, just like his mum and family. He signed a few things for Maeve and got a picture taken kissing her cheek.”
She went on: “We then saw Zayn Malik who was wearing a ‘Backin Belfast’ hoody, and he said hello to everyone and was delighted to see Niall’s mum, giving her a big hug. We got drinks in the canteen and saw Liam Payne getting a bite to eat but we didn’t want to interrupt him.”
And if that wasn’t enough, there was a concert to attend, which Una described as ‘brilliant’.
“My favourite bits were when they flew over the crowd on a platform during ‘Change My Mind’ and also when they crowd sang along during ‘Little Things’ and everyone held up their phones.”
She concluded: “It was an absolute dream come true for all of us and I definitely speak for Maeve and Karen and Una when I say that we could never thank Niall’s family enough for giving us a brilliant, unforgettable experience.”