Updated, 14:19
ONE UNLUCKY IRISH fan who endured the classic pre-tournament nightmare – leaving his tickets behind him in the airport – will be reunited with his precious tickets in Poland later this evening.
Damian Coughlan, 23, from Knocklyon in Dublin left his tickets for all three of the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2012 matches behind him while browsing in the Champion Sports outlet in the airport earlier today.
The tickets – which were issued in the name of his father, Oliver – were spotted by a staff member at the branch, Chris Brannigan, who immediately sought to find their owner.
“We contacted airport police straight away,” Brannigan said, “and though they called Mr Coughlan’s name three times over the intercom, he never contacted the store.”
It’s thought that Coughlan did not hear the announcements either because his flight had already taken off, or because he was not listening out for his father’s name.
This afternoon, however, a spokesman for Dublin Airport said the crisis was being solved – because word of the forgotten tickets had reached a friend of Damian’s, who will be able to bring them to Poland within a few hours.
“A friend of Damian’s is travelling out [to Poland] this evening, and he’s en route to pick up the tickets now,” the spokesman said.
“We’re thrilled to have been able to reunite Damian with his tickets,” he added. ”Particular thanks to the guys at Champion Sports for handing them in the first place!”
Brannigan had joked that the Champion Sports outlet had seen “a few people come in saying they’ll take the tickets to Poland with them and find Mr Coughlan,” but that airport police had advised them to keep the tickets for the time being.
Earlier, Dublin Airport had taken to Twitter to ask people interested in buying the tickets to stop calling them, as they were keen only to have the tickets handed over to their rightful owner.
Additional reporting by Gavan Reilly
