'Otherwise you might not let me come back': Connolly insists on paying for lowkey Galway lunch

Darragh Mc Donagh

Catherine Connolly enjoyed a lowkey lunch with friends in her native Galway on Friday afternoon without an official entourage or security, with her inauguration as Ireland’s 10th president earlier this week apparently not affecting her routine.

She dined with two friends in the Victoria Hotel, just off Eyre Square, where she enjoyed a simple ham and cheese wrap around 2pm on Friday. Ms Connolly travelled alone and was not accompanied by staff or security.

The president sought to pick up the bill for the meal but it was offered to her on the house by staff at the hotel. However, she insisted on paying, joking: “Otherwise you might not let me come back.”

She thanked the staff in Irish, and left a €10 tip for the meal, which cost a total of €34.50.

“She was the nicest, most down-to-Earth woman you could meet,” said one person at the hotel. “There was no fuss, no fanfare, she was just so pleasant and exudes kindness.”

The visit was consistent with an unceremonious start to Ms Connolly’s presidency, having appeared at ease while casually meeting members of the public in the three days since her inauguration.

Áras an Uachtarán did not respond to a request for comment, but a source close to Ms Connolly said she intends to eschew a lot of ceremony and pomp in what she intends will be a “casual” and unpretentious presidency.

A worker at the Victoria Hotel said there was no sign of a state car during the president’s visit but they were unsure how she had travelled. Ms Connolly is a keen cyclist and is often seen on a bicycle in Galway city.

“It took us a little while to realise who she was, to be honest,” they said. “She’s just so unassuming. But there was great excitement once she was spotted, and she couldn’t have been nicer.

“After her lunch, she came up to the bar to pay for the three of them, and we wanted to give it to her on the house, because it was such an honour to have her in the hotel – but she was having none of it.

“She absolutely insisted on paying and joked that, if she didn’t, ‘you might not let me come back again’!”

Ms Connolly enjoyed a relaxing lunch but was spotted by a group of 10 elderly visitors from Roscommon as she was leaving. A witness said they quickly produced mobile phones and made sure to get photographs with the president.

“The Irish paparazzi,” they added.