Golden Amy is a national treasure

As Amy Huberman sat scribbling her autograph on copies of her new book in Mahon Point Shopping Centre in Cork yesterday, women walked past and beamed.

Gazing over at one half of Ireland’s golden couple, women aged 40, 50, and 60 smiled that kind of utterly proud smile. The kind where you knew they were thinking: “Oh she’s just lovely.”

Two well dressed men in their 20s stood awkwardly chatting at the doorway of the book shop, throwing equally awkward glances over at the impeccably groomed Mrs O’Driscoll. The staff at Eason’s had all fallen in love with her too. “Oh she’s so beautiful and so sweet,” they cooed.

Dressed in a black pullover, skinny jeans and ankle boots, a small bump is visible, but she retains the delicate physique of a petite ballerina with creamy, peachy skin and seriously smokey eye make up. “It’s all good,” she says as staff warn her she’ll miss her train if she doesn’t finish up. “The pregnancy is going very well. I’m very lucky. I’m very busy with acting so I couldn’t see a third book at the moment.

“See ya. Bye,” she yells as she runs to join the throngs queuing for the Cork-Dublin train. A national treasure, Irish style. No limos. Just the train.