These paws won the draw!

Last Friday, Patsy Dalton from Galbally travelled to Clough in County Laois to be officially presented as the winner of the community’s St Patrick’s Day draw. Alongside the 6100M John Deere, Patsy was pictured with Toby, who was dressed proudly in Limerick colours as he arrived in Clough.

The winning ticket was in the name of Toby, the Dalton’s terrier dog, and the draw was held by the Clough Community Vision Group who are fundraising to build a new Community Hall in the village. Understood to be the first dog in Ireland to win a tractor, there has been a share of media attention across the country paid to the Laois village as a result.

Olga Hyland, chair of the Clough Community Vision Group, said that the attention had been a hugely positive thing, and has given the group the confidence to keep after their goal.

“You never know what’s in front of you - we wouldn’t have really been well known even within the county, but now there’s a light shining on us. Patsy and Pauline are very nice people, and lovely winners. We’re delighted to be associated with such a good news story - this is of huge benefit to us”.

Olga used to be the principal of the local school, and so felt firsthand how the village could benefit from a community hall.

“We did well with the draw, but we’re only at the start. We feel much more confident now in what we have to do, but we have a lot to do yet.”

The community have since set up a GoFundMe to capitalise on the publicity the win has generated, which can be visited at gofundme. com/f/clough-community-centre-fundraiser