text: This is the moment that two total strangers who could pass for identical twins came face to face for the first time. Niamh Geaney, a 26-year-old student and TV presenter, found her 29-year-old doppleganger after she teamed up with two friends to launch a project called Twin Strangers . The aim of the social media experiment was to see which of the three could find their closest lookalike within 28 days and it attracted submissions to their website 'twin-strangers.com from across the world. Scroll down for video . This is the moment that Niamh Geaney, right, met her doppleganger, Karen Branigan, left for the first time . They meet! 'I was ridiculously nervous about how I would react to meeting someone who looks like me' Niamh (right) said about Karen (left) Incredibly, Miss Geaney, of Dublin found Karen Branigan in just two weeks - just an hour away. After their first meeting she said: ‘I was ridiculously nervous about how I would react to meeting someone who looks like me. 'For the duration of our encounter I pretty much stared at her. I couldn’t get over her face. ‘And some of the expressions she would pull I would think to myself or say aloud, “Oh my God that’s my face”. I can’t remember the number of times I said “this is so freaky”. It was truly amazing. ‘I would say Karen is the shyer of the two of us,’ said Miss Geaney. ‘But then you have to remember this was an even more surreal experience for her than it was for me. I’m the weirdo that contacted Karen and asked her to meet me.’ Uncanny: Niamh Geaney, a 26-year-old student from Dublin (left), found her 'twin stranger' in Karen Branigan (right), through a social media campaign she launched with friends . 'For the entire duration of our encounter I pretty much stared at her. I couldn’t get over her face,' said Niamh (left) Miss Branigan, who is currently in between jobs, has five sisters and a brother. Miss Greaney has two sisters, and both girls agree that none of their siblings look anywhere near as similar to them as they do to one another. Since meeting, Miss Greaney and Miss Branigan - who are both single - say they've been chatting on Facebook 'constantly'. Karen (right) turned out to be a fellow Ireland native who lived just an hour down the road from Niamh (left), making it easy for the pair to meet in real life and take some eerily twin-like photos together . She added, 'Some of the expressions she would pull I would think to myself or say aloud, "Oh my God that’s my face"' While Miss Geaney appears to have beaten her fellow Twin Strangers participants, 21-year-old Harry and 22-year-old Terence, hands down, the search isn't over until April 27. 'I think I have a two, maybe three at a push who resemble me. But they're definitely not as close a match as Karen to Niamh,' Harry English said. 'I'm trailing further behind,' admits Terence Manzanga. 'Must be a guy thing. They tend to be a bit too shy to participate. Not sure if being originally from sub-Saharan Africa has anything to do with it!' Niamh (right) said she and Karen (left) got on 'very well' as they both applied make-up before the shoot, swapping beauty tips and marvelling at their similarities (pictured) Friends for life? Since meeting, Niamh (right) and Karen (left) - who are both single - say they've been chatting on Facebook 'constantly' Feedback: Shocked reactions to Karen and Niamh's story have flooded in from far and wide . Challenge: Niamh's (right) fellow Twin Strangers participants, 21-year-old Harry (left) and 22-year-old Terence (centre), are still looking for their doppelgängers, and the search isn't over until April 27 . Miss Geaney, who is still promoting the project across social media with Harry and Terence as interest spreads, says there will be no prize for the winner, just 'pride'. They are inviting others from around the world to join in too now, by adding users' photos to their Facebook album. 'There is a huge human curiosity element to it,' She said. 'Can you imagine how surreal it would be to meet someone who looked exactly like you?' Only last month the Mail revealed how retired priest Neil Richardson was greeted with waves and ‘hello John’ greetings when he moved to Braintree, Essex, 18 months ago because residents mistook him for 74-year-old lookalike John Jemison.
target: Niamh Geaney, 26, found her doppelgänger through social media .
  Her lookalike, Karen Branigan, lives only a hour away in Ireland .
  The pair met in real life and although it was 'freaky', they got on very well .
  Both have sisters, and say they don't look similar to either of them .