With Random Huggers Day approaching, Joe McNamee had mixed luck when he tried to get into the spirit of things on the streets of Cork.

Thousands of people waited patiently for up to six-hours today simply to receive a warm embrace from an Indian spiritual leader known as the ’hugging saint’.

Hundreds of people lined up at a college auditorium to get a hug from an Indian spiritual leader whose followers say they feel uplifted when they embrace her.