Donegal man who won a brand new €340,000 house in Galway says he's 'still shaking'

A Donegal man who won a house worth €340,000 in Galway has admitted that he is “still shaking.”

Dean Doherty from Ballybofey is the new owner of the magnificent new home in the beautiful seaside village of Kinvara after winning the hugely exciting Win a Home on Galway Bay GAA fundraising draw. He was the first ticket out of the drum at the big finale in Loughrea on Tuesday night.

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“I just can’t believe it,” Dean said. “I bought a ticket just a couple of days before the big draw and was in Spain when I got the call from Galway GAA. I’m still shaking.”

The 46-year-old works as a chef on cruise ships all over the world.

“I’d always dreamed of owning a house, so this is just incredible,” he said. “I lost in Cheltenham recently on the horses, so this certainly makes up for that,” he added jokingly.

In just over four months, Galway GAA raised over €1.45 million in ticket sales, with the fundraising project proving to be a huge success.

“I just want to thank everybody who supported us and bought tickets since we launched our campaign last November. The response locally, nationally and around the world has just been amazing,” said Paul Bellew, Chairperson of Galway GAA.

“We were delighted that the draw was able to support our camogie champions’ team holiday to New York in February. I’d also like to thank all our clubs that got involved and benefited from the project and all the local businesses that helped us along the way.

“But a special word of thanks to the brilliant team who worked tirelessly on this draw in Tommy Kelly, Sean O’Connor, Seamus Hogan, Cara Martin, Aidan Brady (Aidan Brady & Co. Ltd), Cormac Donoghue (JEL Marketing) and Paul Byrnes Media.”

Tickets were bought in all 32 counties, across Europe and around the world, including Asia and Australia, as well as all over the USA.