A Northern Ireland man has revealed how an unexpected phone call led to a chance meeting with a world-renowned political leader.
On Saturday evening last, hearing aid dispenser Paul O’Hara was at home when he took an expected phone call.
US Senator George Mitchell had just touched down in Belfast to participate in the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement but faced a major dilemma.
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Senator Mitchell, who chaired the talks that led to peace in Northern Ireland, suffers from severe hearing loss. The airline had lost his luggage which contained his hearing aids, and it was up to Paul to save the day.
Hidden Hearing dispenser Paul received the surprise call from a Professor at Queen's University who had obtained his details from an ENT consultant at Hillsborough Private Clinic. Paul works in the Hillsborough Hidden Hearing clinic.
Queen’s University hosted former US president Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen across the three-day Agreement 25 event.
Politicians from the time of the 1998 peace accord – which is credited with having largely ended the Troubles in Northern Ireland – were reunited at the event, including former prime minister Sir Tony Blair, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and talks chair Senator Mitchell.
With a busy schedule, including meetings with various high profile former political figures such as Clinton, Blair and Ahern, the visit was going to prove very difficult for Senator Mitchell without his hearing aids.
The 89-year-old former Chair of Negotiations was also scheduled to deliver a keynote address at Stormont and attend a film screening as the guest of honour so he really needed hearing aids if his trip was to be successful.
Paul, who has been a Hearing Aid Dispenser with Hidden Hearing since August 2017, was only too happy to assist Senator Mitchell. He met with him after discussing this with Senator Mitchell’s wife, Heather.
Paul conducted a full audiometric hearing test on Senator Mitchell to establish his levels of hearing loss and recommended the hearing aids that would work best for him during his brief trip to Northern Ireland.
He said: "It was an honour for me to be honest, he was a driving force behind peace in this country and it meant I could enjoy my childhood, and my children can enjoy theirs without seeing all the bad things we saw during the Troubles."
Senator Mitchell told Paul that without his hearing aids he simply cannot hear and had considered cancelling all his engagements as he would not have been able to decipher the conversations going on around him.
He was fitted with state-of-the-art, rechargeable digital hearing devices, Oticon Real- an intelligent new hearing solution designed to help people to hear the real sounds of life with clarity and comfort.
With his hearing restored, the Senator was able to attend all his engagements and went on to deliver a powerful address at Stormont.
He said the Good Friday Agreement gave "the possibility of hope", adding: "This is an agreement for peace for the future, not just for here but for everywhere.
"We need people who believe, who know that the possibility exists within the impossible – don’t let it slip away."
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