German chancellor sent a Limerick Leader by Merkel flag couple as a thank you

FROM one Leader to another –  German chancellor Angela Merkel has had the chance to read this newspaper.

Richie Tuohy, of Angela Merkel Thinks We’re at Work flag fame, and his beautiful new bride Orlagh Eichholz have sent a copy of the Limerick Leader to the most powerful woman in the world as a thank you.

Angela Merkel had previously sent a congratulatory letter and signed photograph to the couple for their wedding day, after being invited by Orlagh's dad Jorg to attend the nuptials.

She can now catch up on all the goings on from Abbeyfeale to Kilbehenny thanks to the couple from Dromkeen and Germany. Orlagh also sent Angela Merkel a video message.

It was an edition of last month’s paper that broke the story about how a County Limerick man who captured the German nation’s hearts with a cheeky flag had captured the heart of a German girl. 

Orlagh said they had no idea how far the story would travel.

“Absolutely not. It was mad. I remember waking up on the Thursday and everybody was messaging, saying we were on the front of the Limerick Leader. Everyone was thrilled especially my nana (Betty Carew) because she used to own Rainsford’s shop in Doon. The Limerick Leader was her biggest seller. There was great excitement,” said Orlagh.

The next day practically all the national newspapers had picked up on the story.

“It was just mad. By 10am we had spoken to three radio stations and RTE news were on their way down to the house,” said Orlagh.

Next thing they knew they were being interviewed in Cappawhite by Mary Finnegan, the Irish correspondent for Germany's national public television broadcaster ZDF. 

“I grew up only watching the German channels so that was massive, especially for my dad – the main German channel coming to Cappawhite,” said Orlagh, who moved to Doon aged five.

The newlyweds spoke to the Leader last week before flying out to Las Vegas and the Bahamas for a well deserved break.

“The story made German and Spanish newspapers. It went worldwide. Every day we were waking up with a new link sent to us. It was gas but the Leader had it first,” said Orlagh, a junior infants teacher in Caherline NS.

However, she admits married life isn’t all sweetness and light as there was a bitter divide on the weekend of July 27 and 28!

“Richie was very upset after the Limerick and Kilkenny match but I was as high as a kite after Tipperary beat Wexford. He is trying to convert me to Limerick hurling but I’m Tipp so I can’t do that,” smiled Orlagh.

At the Euros in 2012 Richie and his friends made headlines around the world due to their Irish flag with the slogan Angela Merkel Thinks We’re at Work. Remember this was in the years after the financial crash and subsequent bail-out.

In a lovely twist of fate, Richie met and fell in love with a German girl.