First Encounters: Ruth Davis and Aisling O’Neill

Ruth Davis manages European projects for the Veneto regional government in north-east Italy. Originally from Dublin, she moved to Italy after graduating from TCD and now lives in Peschiera in Lake Garda with her husband, Antonio Forgione, and three children. She has recently moved back to Dublin for a year

Aisling and I met in 1st class in Wyvern in Killiney; we were both about six. She was the new girl and I asked if she’d like to stand beside me – she appealed to me, she was small and vulnerable and we became best buddies. I’m not sure why we bonded: we’re incredibly different. I was very serious, very good; she was a little bit more rebellious.

We went to different secondary schools – I went to Sion Hill, she went to Cluny. She always knew she was going to be an actress. She had a part in Waiting for Godot with her dad in the Focus. It was so exciting and I went to see her – but of course for a 10-year-old, incredibly boring. I spent the whole time waiting for Aisling to come on. Afterwards we went to the pub and we both fell asleep.

In secondary school, we each made friends and our group of friends mixed, and do even today. I went to Trinity to do European studies but Aisling and I stayed very close. We’d gone through a lot together when we were young: my mother died when I was eight; her dad moved to the States. I’ll never forget a trip to the States we made when we were 12 or 13; it was my first time on a plane.

I did my Erasmus in Italy in my third year, lived in Verona, met Antonio; the rest is history. I came back, finished my degree, then went back for the summer and ended up staying with Antonio. We lived in Italy for a couple of years – I did a Masters in human rights, then got a job with the European Commission in Brussels, worked there for three years. We got married somewhere in between.

Aisling and I were always in touch: neither of us ever has any time, but we always pick up where we left off. Now I’m home I’ll call, say are you around, can we meet up?

I watch Fair City when I come home but she got really well-known after I left the country. It's very strange when we go out for a drink or shopping; people ask for her autograph or a picture with her. I'm very proud of her, she's such a great actress.

The first thing I love about our friendship is that we have such a laugh when we’re together – Aisling’s hilarious. She’s also really easy-going, very relaxed, determined and a great mom.

We don’t do the Facebook thing: it’s a privacy issue for me and for her too.

It’s an old-fashioned friendship – we just pick up the phone and talk if we want to know what’s going on in each others’ lives; we talk regularly on the phone but don’t have to explain if we’re too busy to talk. It’s a very easy friendship.

Aisling O'Neill is an actor who works in theatre, films and TV, and is best known as Carol in RTÉ soap 'Fair City', a role she has played for 15 years. The daughter of late actor Chris O'Neill, Aisling was born in Dalkey, Co Dublin and now lives in Gorey, Co Wexford, with her son Christopher

I remember the day I met Ruth vividly. I was born in Dalkey but my parents moved to Ranelagh for a few years. When I came back, my mom brought me to school in Wyvern in Killiney: I was going in two days late into the term and didn’t know anyone. They were all lining up to go to assembly and this girl came up to me and said, would you like to stand beside me? And it was Ruth.

I couldn’t articulate it then but she made me feel calm and she still does. We just clicked: through all my ups and downs I always felt safe. Her mum died in the summer of second class: her dad was and still is a wonderful daddy. Ruth and I had a very strong bond from the beginning even though we were very different people. She was good, very academic, I was quite bold and wild, more mischievous – but we gelled well.

My parents broke up when I was two-and-a-half but remained friends. Chris left for the States when I was about 12. It wasn’t that traumatic because I went to see him every year.

When we were 13 or 14, Ruth and I went together to the US, where my dad and my uncle Vincent had opened a theatre in Buffalo, New York. My uncle still runs it. Ruth and I had great fun that summer: we went to see The Bangles up in Canada; my dad had to take us – can you imagine him, with two 13-year-old girls, us holding our lighters up? One of my most vivid memories is of going to Avoca in Co Wicklow – Ruth’s dad had a house there and a gang of us would go. And when we were 15, I went camping to France with Ruth and her family.

I was in The Riordans [in which her father acted] when I was an infant and don't think I ever had any doubt I'd be an actor. I went to the acting school my dad had started in Dublin. Ruth went to college and to Italy on Erasmus, fell in love with Antonio and never really came back. I'm thrilled she's moved home for the moment to help take care of her dad. My little boy Christopher (6) and her daughter Clodagh have great fun together.

Ruth finds it hilarious when people come up to me to talk when we’re out. For me, it’s part of the job, I get a kick out of it. I’m very different from Carol – she’s been a victim of horrible things but she’s a survivor.

I know that no matter what, Ruth would always stand up for me. It’s what you need in a friend, she’s someone who’s always got my back. She’s just a really beautiful person and I love her.

Fair City, RTÉ's longest- running TV soap, celebrated its 25th anniversary this week