Karen and Paul McMaster
Love is in the air as Valentine’s Day approaches and in a new film for BBC Northern Ireland, couples from across the Northern Ireland share their romantic tales and secrets to long lasting relationships.
The show features a number of local faces, including childhood sweethearts Karen and Paul McMaster from Ballymena, for whom it was love at first sight during their summer of love in Portrush. Karen is the principal of Camphill Primary School.
Young love: Karen and Paul McMaster
Husband Paul admitted his first crush was Jennifer Anniston, but said: “The first girl I looked at and thought ‘she is absolutely gorgeous’, was Karen, standing at the side of the dodgems at Barry’s Amusements.
“I was on the dodgems and I spotted this girl standing at the side, blonde hair, but we didn’t actually get to know each other until maybe another month or so after that.”
Young love: Karen and Paul McMaster
Karen added: “That was the beginning of that summer. As the summer went through, we always went to the same disco back in those days.”
Paul went onto share how the ice was broken when Karen sent one of her friends over to one of his friends to say: “My friend over there kinda likes your friend, do you think he would be interested?”
The in love couple started dating in 1993, before getting married eight years later in 2001.
Packed with nostalgia, Northern Irish Love Stories delves into the archives to relive some of the most memorable moments from TV and film to capture our hearts.
Alice and Craig McCullough from Kells.
From love letters to dating apps, the way we find that special someone may have changed through the years, but our couples agree that holding out for long lasting love is a worthwhile wait.
Alice and Craig McCullough from Kells.
Alice and Craig McCullough from Kells (met in 2013 before marrying in 2015), and, Lisa and Terry Stein-Hopkins from Whitehead, share their own journey of love.
Craig proposes to Alice.
Lily Johnston (from Ballyclare) met her late husband Harry through a newspaper ad in the 1950s, and they were married for 61 years until Harry sadly passed away.
Lily Johnston from Ballyclare with grandaughter Hayley Baird.
Granddaughter Hayley Baird reminisces with Lily about their truly old-fashioned romance and the first time her grandparents met at a train station after a long correspondence. The pair had been pen pals while Harry served in the army.
Lily and Harry Johnston from Ballyclare.
Trevor and Margo met as teenagers in 1958 and their love was sparked over a shared passion for music as the pair formed a band and spent years travelling the world performing together during the 1960s.
Emmett and Wendy met on a pub tour in Rome and quickly fell in love. With Wendy living in Boston and Emmet based in Londonderry, the couple managed a three year long distance relationship. Now married and living in Northern Ireland, they have proved some holiday romances do last.
Tanya and Leah talk about how attitudes to same-sex relations have changed in Northern Ireland throughout the years and share their incredible fertility journey and the joy of having their first child together.
Terry Stein-Hopkins from Whitehead.
In a tale of modern romance, Róisín and Connor both swiped right on a dating app in 2017 and after some initial reservations are now happily married.
Northern Irish Love Stories
Sunday 13 February
BBC One Northern Ireland, 7pm
Also available on BBC iPlayer