Tang man's lakeside proposal to music star hits the right note
If music be the food of love, then well-known Tang musician, Simon Sheerin, must surely win the gong for the most romantic proposal of 2020 to country music star, Cliona Hagan.
Picturesque Lough Ree was the setting for the fairytale proposal which saw the popular drummer roll out the red carpet, light the candles and assemble a flower-filled arch before he went down on one knee to ask for Cliona’s hand in marriage, all against the backdrop of her favourite song, Shania Twain’s ‘You’re Still The One.’”
“I was hoping she would say yes, and thankfully she did,” says Simon, who admits that he had to enlist the help of his brother and sister, Tom and Carmel, to create the romantic setting for his proposal.
“I had an idea in my head, but I knew it would take a big of planning to create it, so as much as I would like to say I did everything myself, I had to call on Tom and Carmel to give me a hand,” explains Simon, who didn’t want Cliona to get suspicious when he suggested a walk close to Lough Ree.
“When Cliona is down in Tang we would normally go for a walk around Lough Ree, so as far as she was concerned it was just another walk until she spotted the arch, the lanterns and the red carpet, and heard the music,” recalls Simon, who adds that his brother and sister did “a great job, everything was just perfect.”
As well as creating the perfect setting for his fairytale proposal, Simon Sheerin left nothing to chance when it came to picking the perfect ring for his fiancée. He selected a hexagonal platinum ring studded with diamonds, having asked Cliona to point out her favourite rings in a jeweller’s window a couple of months ago.
Ever the gentleman, he also revealed that he travelled to Cliona’s family home in Tyrone in advance of his romantic proposal to ask for her father’s permission to marry his daughter.
“I get on really well with all of Cliona’s family, so I thought it was only right that I should let them know what I was planning, and in fairness to them they were delighted and they never breathed a word to her,” he said. The popular musical couple started dating two years ago, having known each other through the music business for a number of years. “When Cliona formed a new band after her time on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ I joined the band as drummer and MD so we were together both as a couple and through our jobs.”
However, with the Covid-19 pandemic virtually shutting down the live music industry for the past 10 months, Simon Sheerin jokes that he had “plenty of free time” to meticulously plan his romantic proposal to his wife-to-be!
He says he has been trying to stay busy and focused during lockdown by learning new material, keeping fit, and participating in the extremely popular Facebook Live performances which have been a feature of Cliona Hagan’s Facebook page on Sunday evenings.
Despite the fact that Simon and Cliona got engaged on December 17, they managed to keep the happy news a secret until Cliona put up a Facebook post on Christmas Eve, along with three black and white photographs of the stunning proposal. Simon says he is delighted he put so much effort into his wedding proposal, and says he would like to think of himself “as a bit of a romantic.”
As for the wedding itself? “Well, we are not planning a wedding anytime soon, we thought maybe the end of this year, but with Covid we are not sure at this stage, it’s still under discussion” he says, adding that “for the moment, we will just enjoy the engagement.”
With the current restrictions on wedding guests, Simon Sheerin says it would “a huge job” trying to assemble a guest list given that he comes from a family of 11. “We would probably fill the Church on our own,” he jokes “so I think we’ll have to wait another while.”