SEAMUS DUKE speaks to PAT COMPTON, Chairperson of Club Rossie, about the ambitious ‘Win a
House in Dublin’ project…
It’s one of the most innovative and ambitious fundraising ventures ever attempted by any organisation in the county. Roscommon County GAA Board are offering a €425,000 house in Dublin as the gala prize in a unique draw which will be held at the end of December.
The house is located in the suburb of Ashtown and is close to all major amenities including the LUAS line and shopping and leisure facilities.
Tickets in the draw are priced at €100 each and Club Rossie (the fundraising arm of Roscommon County GAA Board) have set a target of 15,000 ticket sales which, if reached, would raise over €1m.
This extraordinary figure would be used to fund development work at Dr. Hyde Park and at the new Dermot Earley Centre of Excellence at Runnabracken.
I recently met up with Pat Compton, the chairperson of Club Rossie, to find out a little more about this ambitious fundraiser and how it’s progressing.
Pat began by telling me where the idea came from.
“It was the brainchild of our treasurer, David O’Connor. David thought it would be a good idea to raffle a house and it took off from there. Ballymore Properties (Sean Mulryan) are the developers and they have put this house at our disposal. We have to pay for it, but it is coming at a reasonable cost and we are very grateful for Sean Mulryan’s support in this venture”.
Pat continued: “The house is in a development at the old Phoenix Park Racecourse (the address is Royal Canal Park). It’s a three-bedroomed semi-detached house and it’s worth €425,000 at today’s market prices”.
Pat next alluded to the ambitious target for the draw.
“We hope to raise €1m (profit). We have a limit of 15,000 tickets…to date we have sold just less than 5,000 tickets and we are happy with the response so far.
“We have been travelling around the various shopping centres in Dublin and we have been doing events like the Ideal Homes Exhibition. We have also been marketing the draw around the country and at matches. The draw is attracting a lot of interest in Dublin – for obvious reasons. The shortage of houses in the Capital makes this a very attractive draw. It’s a huge prize for just €100…the draw will be held on the 30th of December and we are determined to go ahead on that date”.
Pat Compton then outlined where the funds raised from the draw will be spent.
“The profits will go towards development works at Dr. Hyde Park and also to the start of our Dermot Earley Centre of Excellence at Runnabracken. It’s for infrastructural developments that will be there for the next generation hopefully”.
Club Rossie are also busy with other activities.
“We are going ahead with our usual annual draw next year and we have several other ideas in the pipeline. I have to say there is an excellent committee there…working hard on behalf of Roscommon GAA.
“Our supporters in Dublin have been fantastic. They have been very supportive and I thank them for that. But Roscommon supporters all over the country have been great. I have to point out that our biggest sales area to date has been within County Roscommon, which is slightly ahead of those in Dublin, so we have received great support here in Roscommon too”.
Club Rossie will also be looking for support from the worldwide Roscommon family.
Pat: “We will be seeking assistance from all our diaspora around the world as well as from throughout the country. We have to raise enough funds to show our sponsors and supporters that we are serious about what we are doing and we are going to work hard to ensure that this draw is a success”.
* See www.winahouseindublin.com for more details
