An 81-year-old grandad who was refused entry to a Dublin cinema had the red carpet rolled out for him as he finally got to see the new James Bond film.
Christopher Ankers was left devastated when staff at the Savoy cinema were unable to accept his cash payment to allow him to see No Time To Die.
Thankfully, Cineworld supplied the family with two free tickets so the Finglas man could enjoy the blockbuster.
Christopher's daughter, Sandra told Dublin Live: "They had a lovely day out, they were actually treated like royalty in Cineworld.
"They took a lovely picture of them standing on the red carpet.
"They went for dinner after, the two of them and then got a taxi home."
Daniel Craig's final portrayal of Bond received Christopher's seal of approval.
The North Dublin family were taken aback by the public's overwhelming support, a comfort when their father announced that he was worried about going back to the cinema.
Messages of support flooded in with total strangers wanting to make sure Christopher saw the film.
Sandra said: "We're sending off some of the messages to him and he's reading them.
"Other people actually wanted to bring him to the cinema."
Sandra now hopes that their story made a difference and showed the importance of cash as a form of payment.
"I would just hate to see it happen to anyone else.," she said.
"My dad was standing there for a good while.
"Cash is a legal tender and nobody should be turned away.
"As the saying goes, 'cash is king', especially in my dad's era."
Addressing the controversy, Savoy operators IMC Cinemas tweeted: "While we appreciate this policy may be an inconvenience to some customers, due to Covid-19 the decision was taken by the Savoy in June 2021 to only accept card payments as it results in reduced interaction between customers and staff, while also shortening the time spent by customers in the Foyer.
"These steps have resulted in no Covid-19 outbreaks in the Savoy cinema since it reopened in June 2021."
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