Luke is hit on First Dates

Luke is hit on First Dates

19 January 2022

ARDGLASS man Luke Mulhall showed off his romantic charm when he 

appeared on First Dates Ireland last week.

The friendly singleton met student Julieann Moran from Westmeath for a meal at the First Dates restaurant at the Gibson Hotel in Dublin.

Screened on RTÉ2 last Thursday, viewers saw how things got off to a great start when 23 year-old Luke declared his love for none other than Manchester United legend Gary Neville — only to find out that his date was also a die-hard Man U fan.

However, stunning redhead Julieann won Luke over with her big smile, good humour and red lipstick, declaring him “so good looking”.

When they found out they both had deaf Cocker Spaniels, their regard for each other was heightened. Then when they revealed the dogs’ names, his Keely and hers Flicka — both have their origins as meaning beautiful — sparks flew. 

The pair matched and said they would like to see each other when it came to the final interview with producers at the end of the programme.

Luke and his friends celebrated the show’s broadcast with a premiere at his local bar, The Old Commercial in Ardglass.

Manager Barry Gilliland donned a tuxedo and rolled out the red carpet to welcome the main man of the night with more than 20 of his friends to watch the programme on a big screen in the lounge.

“It was one of the best nights of my life. My friends and I all dressed up in suits to make it into a premiere,” said Luke.

“I sat with my face looking straight ahead at the show but I’ve gone down well, or so I’m told.”

While Luke, a senior player at Ardglass GAC, travelled up to see 21 year-old Julieann in Donegal where she is studying agriculture, several months after the programme was recorded, the date has not led to anything more than friendship — at the moment.

“Distance is keeping us apart alright. If she was a local girl, 100 per cent I’d be seeing her,” said Luke.

“I met her and her friends and it was great fun, but the distance has definitely been a problem.”

Luke, a financial terms co-ordinator in Belfast, who achieved a first class degree in accounting, explained that he only applied to go on the programme out of boredom.

“I happened to be isolating down south last year and saw an ad for First Dates Ireland on Instagram. As I had all the time in the world with nothing to do, I thought I would apply. To be honest, I’m just down for a bit of craic, I’ll try my hand at anything,” he said.

“I signed up for it and never thought about it again. Two months later I was out on the golf course and got a call from the producer.

The next day they spoke with me for about an hour, asking everything about my love life and my family life. About a week later I went down to record a prep interview and a month later I was down on a date last August.”

Luke was full of praise for the great job the producers did in setting him up with Julieann.

“She was so chatty, she suited me down to a tee, to be fair. I just felt I was sitting having a bit of craic on a date. It was probably the best date I’ve ever been on,” he said.

“I wasn’t nervous about being on TV, I was more nervous in case that the date was a wee bit dead and we would have nothing to talk about.

“I sat across from her and straightaway she was full of life, full of energy and it gave me a lot to bounce off as I’m a chatty fella. It put me right at ease and I settled into it straight way.”

The son of Peter and Paula Mulhall, Luke made sure to promise his granny, Margaret, that First Dates “was a nice dating programme”.

First Dates Ireland is on RTÉ2 on Thursday at 9.30pm.