Ryan Brothers of Thurles are ‘Lords of the Rings’ after precious engagement diamond is found in rubbish

Ryan Brothers waste recycling services of Thurles saved the day for a soon-to-be bride and groom recently when staff recovered an engagement ring the fiancé had accidentally thrown in the bin.

Aidan from Johnstown contacted the Tipperary Star to say a huge ‘thank you’ to the Thurles based company whose staff went above and beyond the call of duty to retrieve the precious ring buried amongst all the other rubbish in the bins.

Aidan and Katrina are due to be married on June 7.

Disaster hit when Aidan threw out the ring which Katrina had put in tissue paper on the kitchen counter after cleaning it.

“My partner was cleaning her engagement ring, and we threw it out by mistake. When we found out what happened, some of the lads in the bin lorry got it back to us.” Aidan singled out Ryan Brothers employees Páidí, William and Jason for particular praise.

“It happened on Wednesday (May 1),” says Aidan. “They collect the bins on Wednesday mornings.

“I had thrown it out the night before. It was wrapped in a bit of tissue. They got out on the Dublin road in Johnstown and took out all the bags of rubbish and went through all of them. They actually got it back for us in the end.”

“We just want to thank them. We really appreciate it that they got it back for us,” said a clearly relieved Aidan.

Apart from the sentimental value, about 25% of couples in Ireland typically spend between €2,000 – €3,000 on a new sparkler for the big day, with many more spending up to €5,000. A spokesperson for Michael’s Jewellers in Westgate, Thurles, said there used to be an old rule of thumb that the ring should cost about a month's wages, but the sky is the limit depending on the person's finances.