Irish in Rome: Sarah McDonald (28) arrived in Rome from Warrenpoint, Co Down, on Tuesday and queued from 11pm until noon on Wednesday to see Pope John Paul's remains.
"When he came to Ireland to see me I was two, now I have come to see him," she said.
As she prepared to bunk down in a sleeping bag and blankets on the pavement beside the colonnade at St Peter's she said: "I had a lot of respect for him as a man. He was a very good leader of the church, a great spiritual and political leader."
She thought this even though she did not share his beliefs on everything.
For example, on Aids in Africa, she believed he should have allowed the use of condoms when it came to preventing the spread of the disease."
But he was, she felt, "full of love" and she respected the fact that "what he believed was very dear to him and I would never take that from him".
And she liked what he did for Poland and the Polish people. Her grandfather was Polish.
Pádraig Ryan, from Boyle, Co Roscommon, flew from Knock to Stansted on Wednesday and missed his connecting flight. It meant taking another plane to Pisa where he arrived at 10.30pm on Wednesday before connecting with the train to Rome four hours later.
They arrived in Rome at 6.30am yesterday and joined the queue at St Peter's Square, where his luck changed.
A guard opened a barrier and let him through.
It meant he saw the Pope's remains within two hours of joining the queue. It was, he felt, pay back for the journey getting there.
This middle-aged man was also preparing to bunk down in blankets on the pavement last night.
He had seen the Pope in Ballybrit 25 years ago and just wanted to be there.
"I don't think there'll be another man like him," he said.