When wishes do come true

SHE has always wanted to meet a princess and last September, Mairéad Sparkes’s dream came true.

Thanks to the Make-A-Wish-Foundation, the 12-year-old from Dublin was flown to Disneyland where she got to meet Princess Bella from Beauty and the Beast and shook hands with another firm favourite, Mickey Mouse.

Her mother, Margaret, who is a dentist, says although her daughter is almost a teenager, the fact that she has an intellectual disability means her ambitions are childlike ones, so getting to meet her Disney heroes was a dream come true.