In one of the worst-kept showbusiness secrets of recent years, Georgina Ahern, daughter of the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, married Nicky Byrne, singer with Westlife, in a civil ceremony on 4 August 2003. Details of the ceremony in Wicklow town had been tightly-guarded to keep secure a deal where the couple is being paid nearly €1 million by a magazine for exclusive rights to a later church ceremony and reception in France. But yesterday at 3.42 p.m. when the bride arrived wearing jeans and a casual top, more than 20 photographers and journalists were there to capture the event, after details of the ceremony emerged in newspapers over the weekend. Some 15 minutes later the groom arrived for the short ceremony, and was bustled in through the back entrance of the East Coast Area Health Board's Wicklow district headquarters, where the county's registry office is located. A crowd of 200, including media, Westlife fans and locals, had assembled outside to watch the couple's arrival. Both 24-years-old, they are childhood sweethearts. The Taoiseach was not there to give his eldest daughter away, and the bride's younger sister, Cecilia, who will be matron of honour at the church ceremony, was also absent. Ms Ahern was accompanied by her mother, Miriam, who wore a cream trouser suit and black top. The groom was accompanied by his mother Yvonne, while his father, Nikki, brother and sister and a small number of guests also attended. While the ceremony was ongoing, health board officials blocked the entry of journalists and fans to the building, on grounds of health and safety. Within minutes this was being circumvented by young Westlife fans who insisted they had to go to the bathroom, leaving no option but for officials to chaperone them to and from the toilet. Throughout the afternoon flurries of excitement rippled through the fans and the press pack whenever a dark 4x4, a popular form of transport for celebrities, was spotted. However with the 4x4 also being one of the most popular forms of transport in the Wicklow hills, flurries were frequent and unfounded. There was a heavy private security presence as the couple arrived and left separately through a rear entrance in an attempt to prevent the couple being photographed together or having to face journalists' questions. Either could jeopardise that €1 million deal with Hello! magazine. It has bought exclusive interview and photography rights for the couple's church ceremony on Saturday at the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Gallardon, 60 km south of Paris, and for the reception nearby for 400 people at the exclusive Chateau d'Escilmont.
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