Ryanair couple make waves after love in the air

After hitting the headlines all around the world, the Ryanair romance was tested on the Waterford waves — and it went pretty well.

Jamie Kelly, 24, from Galway has become a bit of a sensation in the last week after scouring the social media world looking for the Canadian woman that stole his heart on a short flight from Barcelona to Dublin last week.

After Twitter campaigns, Canadian television interviews, coverage in magazines such as Time and Cosmopolitan, Jamie finally shared a date with Katie Moreau, 27, in Waterford on Wednesday. Although the pair were quite coy about how it went, they both admitted to Ray D’arcy on Today FM that there was a chemistry between them.

For his part, Jamie said they simply had a good time together.

“It went very well,” he said. “I had a really good time. The surfing was really good. Everyone we met was very nice to us and treated us a bit like celebrities I suppose but it was good. We just shared a lot of similar interests, we had the same sense of humour.

“She’s a very good-looking girl as well so that kind of helps.”

Katie, who said her friends and family back in Canada were loving the coverage she was getting, agreed that they had a lot in common.

“The day went really well, I found,” she said. “It started out a little awkward. I didn’t know whether to shake his hand or to hug him or what to do but I went in for the hug. The conversation was fine but it was when people asked for pictures, that it was very awkward. He was really easy to talk to. I found he listened but he also talked.

“The conversation went well but he was also really funny, so I really like that in a person and he’s very good-looking.”

After some surfing, the obligatory meal and a few pints, the pair even shared a goodnight kiss.

Jamie admitted that while “passionate”, he was a gentleman and nothing further happened on the first date.

“I’m a good Catholic boy. Well, I’m an atheist but my mother is a Catholic,” he said.

He also admitted he was not much of a romantic but when he “clicked” with someone he tried to follow it up — which is putting it somewhat mildly.

So where does it go from here? Katie returns to Canada today to complete her social work studies, while Jamie is job-hunting in Dublin after finishing his degree last year.

Both admitted they had “no idea” if the relationship would go any further. But the whole of Ireland is hoping Jamie bites the bullet one more time and goes to visit Katie in Canada.