eddie never married as a policeman, however, in walford, he decides he needs a mate. he patiently pursues kathy beale (gillian taylforth), but she sees him kissing eibhlin o'donnell (mary conlon), who is his former girlfriend visiting from ireland. kathy refuses to accept his explanations and so their lukewarm romance ends. in april 1991, when sharon seems to be opening her heart to him and is fed up with grant, he rashly offers himself as a replacement, but is rejected. when grant finds out, he beats him up so badly that he is hospitalised and needs brain surgery. whilst recovering, he receives another visit from eibhlin. he ends up proposing marriage and she accepts.