by Pádraig Corkery (The Kerry’s Eye)
Not many people can drive away with
a brand new Volkswagen Golf car for £100, but that is what happened
to Joan Buckley, Hollytree drive, Listowel.
Joan is the first winner of the Moyvane2000 Millennium Lottery,
which has been set up to benefit the local Marian hall in the
village of Moyvane.
Over the course of the year, there
will be ten monthly draws, with five cars being given away and
cash prizes being given away during the other five months. The
main prize for February, May, July and September is £5000 cash,
while in October the star prize is a Suzuki 4×4 Grand Vitara 2
Litre. The cars have been supplied by Mulvihill Motors of Moyvane,
who have kindly sponsored the cars for the draw.
Members of the Moyvane Marian Hall Committee following the presentation of a Volkswagen Golf Car to
Joan Buckley on Friday (28/1).
Front (L-R):
Anne-Marie kennelly, Eileen Cronin(Tresurer), Teddy Keane(Chairman), Celia Thornton.
Back (L-R):
Theresa Stack, Nora Fitzmaurice, Denis Mulvihill, Denis Flaherty, Martin Kennelly, John Thornton.
“The Marian Hall was re-built 3 to 4 years ago” explained Teddy Keane, Chairman of the organising committee. “At the time a lot of people were using the local community hall and it was felt that there was a need for a second hall in the village, so the Marian Hall was built, under the chairmanship of Fr. O’Leary. We were looking at ways of paying off the debt on the hall and we came up with the idea last October. The tickets cost £100 each and people pay on a direct debit system of £10 a month.”
So successful has the draw been, that they have exceeded expectation, with over 2000 tickets sold. “There has been a great response from the local community and from the North Kerry area in general. The local groups, even those who would be doing their own fund-raising, have been extremely helpful in selling tickets.”
Now that the hall has been built, the demand for its rooms is great. With four meeting rooms and the main event hall, the building can hold up to five different events at the one time. “We have something going on in the meeting rooms or in the hall every night of the week, whether it be Scór concerts, bingo, traditional music, traditional dancing, ICA, Credit Union meetings, doctors clinics and adult education classes.
“This hall is very much community based, with people from all parts and all walks of life coming to use it. There is no competition from the other community hall, which mainly deals with sports, but we do not cater for sports events. Ocasionally we would have to move an eventthere in case of overcrowding, but usually not.” The relationship between the two halls is so good that Teddy is also on the committee of the sprots hall.
Once the debt is cleared from the Marian Hall, with the current draw likely to clear a large chunk of it, the committee will be able to look to the future. “The original idea was that the hall would cater for the elderly”, Teddy Keane explained. “At the moment, the hall is being utilised in other ways, but looking down the road, we would be looking to get a facility for the elderly where they could meet.”
