A romantic Macclesfield man flew from England to Belfast to find a girl he knew only as Cat from Dundonald.

Sam Hibbert and Cat McKernan met at the weekend in Manchester when Cat visited the city on a trip from Northern Ireland.

In spite of the obvious attraction between then, neither Cat nor Sam swapped telephone numbers.

Instead, the couple had decided to put the power of the lifestyle guide, The Secret, to the test and see if the intention to meet up again was enough to make it happen. And it was.

Sam arrived on a morning flight into Belfast got a taxi to the nearby Dundonald Icebowl where they had agreed to meet at 3pm.

Sam from Manchester and Catriona from Belfast at Dundonald Ice Bowl.
Sam from Manchester and Catriona from Belfast at Dundonald Ice Bowl.

He said: “I knew I’d see Cat again. I stopped on the way at a florist to buy a bouquet for her and then got a taxi over to our intended meeting point. I’d never been there in my life. And I wasn’t even disappointed to see she wasn’t there.

“I asked the girl on reception, Gemma Sloan, to take a photo of me and put up my story on Facebook, then Belfast Live got in touch and within minutes of them putting my story on their website, Cat was on her way to meet me.”

The pair met in the Birdcage nightclub last Saturday night in Manchester.

Instead of swapping phone numbers or even their surnames, Cat, 30, grabbed Sam phone, searched for a map of Northern Ireland and placed a dot on the map of where she said they could meet - Dundonald Icebowl.

So yesterday Sam, 22, upheld his part of the bargain and within an hour of his arrival Cat’s friend in work has spotted the Facebook post and arranged for the civil servant to take the afternoon off.

Sam from Manchester and Catriona from Belfast at Dundonald Ice Bowl.
Sam from Manchester and Catriona from Belfast at Dundonald Ice Bowl.

Cat said: “At 1.30pm I’d said to my friend that I imagined that lad from Manchester would be sitting in Dundonald but to be honest I didn’t think it would happen.

“But then this massive whoop went up and my friend had seen the post on Facebook. I had never read The Secret but I reckon I’ll read it now.

“I’m still in shock to be honest and delighted to be here to see Sam. It’s a bit mad but it’s great fun. How many women can say this has happened in their life.

“I think it’s romantic but I’ve only just learned he’s a Man Utd supporter and I support Liverpool. That may be a hurdle we’ll have to get over.”

The pair enjoyed a game of bowls in Dundonald and a meal before Sam, a vehicle wrapper, had to leave for his return journey to England and home to Macclesfield in Cheshire.

He said: “I relied on The Secret and I knew it would work and it did. Now we’ve just got to work out where we want to go from here. Cat is a beautiful woman and today I’m the happiest man who ever went clubbing on a Saturday night.”