More than 1,700 tickets have been sold to people seeking to win a house valued at some €425,000 in Dublin which has been made available as part of an initiative aiming to support GAA in Co Roscommon into the future.
Club Rossie, the supporters' club which fundraises to support the county team, is raffling off the property in Ashtown with entrants paying €100 a pop to take part.
The three-bed house in a development at Royal Canal Park has been built by Seán Mulryan, the developer who sponsors the county team. Similar homes are on the market for €425,000.
Club Rossie bought the house at an undisclosed cost price from the developer. The fundraisers believe they can sell 15,000 tickets at €100 each, which would lead to a €1.5 million windfall for GAA in the county.
Kevin McStay recently quit the role of Roscommon senior football manager after three years citing, among other things, the amount of time needed to fundraise to keep the inter-county teams going.
He noted a figure of €15,000 a week to train a county team earlier this year which he said put a burden on “voluntary officers that is often overwhelming”.
His parting shot to the GAA was that it must do more to help the smaller counties financially on the basis of “fairness, equity and solidarity”.
He did not mention quadruple All-Ireland champions Dublin by name, but everybody has been complaining about the gap in resources between Dublin and the rest of the country.
The funds raised from the draw will be used to develop the facilities at the county's Dr Hyde Park ground and to help implement the strategic plan of Roscommon GAA, which includes the future development of the Dermot Earley Centre of Excellence.
David Leydon, spokesman for Club Rossie, said: "We're hoping that couples who are looking for a house might take their chances in relation to this draw. They have a one in 15,000 chance of winning compared to the National Lottery which is one in 10 million."
Roscommon is not the first county to auction a house. Meath GAA is raffling three houses in Navan in October.
The draw takes place on December 30th and you can buy tickets on winahouseindublin.com.
