After Niall lost his long-term partner to Aids in the early 90s, he had no plans for a new relationship. By 2001, he was living in London and happily settled into his single life. “I’d moved to the city from County Cavan, Ireland, in my 20s, and was working at the National Theatre,” he says. “I definitely wasn’t looking to meet anyone.”
One night, when his twin brother was visiting London, they went to a gay bar in Kensington. “He’s not gay, but a lot of the other pubs were closed,” says Niall. That’s where he caught the eye of Poul, a Danish restaurateur who was drinking in the bar. “I thought they were a couple at first,” says Poul, “but I was immediately attracted to Niall. He had lovely eyes and was really witty.” At the time, Poul was working at a restaurant in Mayfair. “I had been due to go to Chile a few months later for a job, but I was enjoying London too much to leave.”
