Seeing Francis 'significant' for Irish couple having first met at 1979 papal visit 

Alice and Patrick Gavigan first met decades ago at another papal event (Family Handout/PA)

A couple celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary have told of the “significance” of being able to attend Pope Francis’s wake in Rome — having first met decades ago at another papal event.

Patrick and Alice Gavigan were among some 20,000 people paying their respects to Francis in St Peter’s Basilica on the first day of his lying-in-state.