'Big upgrade': Young Longford man 'overjoyed' to win Land Cruiser in monster draw
Cameron Brady (20) won the Toyota Land Cruiser jeep in a draw that was held in conjunction with the Granard Agricultural Show recently and he said it is a ‘big upgrade’ on the Toyota he had previously.
A hugely successful fundraising draw which was held recently for a new Toyota Land Cruiser has laid the foundations for a bright future for the Granard Agricultural Show.
A bumper crowd of more than 5,000 people attended the highly popular annual two-day event on Saturday, July 18 and Sunday, July 19.
Chairperson Gerry Tully praised the committee for coming up with the idea for the fundraising draw, which raised €100,000, a €25,000 profit once the jeep was paid for.
He said they were delighted that popular local agricultural contractor Cameron Brady won the jeep.
The 20 year-old said he was at home working in the yard and his phone was on the jeep, but he was 'overjoyed' to get the news.
"My grandfather came into the yard, there was a couple of lads after ringing him to see where I was when I wasn't answering the phone.
"But I got the phone then and I had about 20 missed calls and when I started to return them, and that is when I got the news.
"I have a Toyota jeep but this is a big upgrade."
Mr Tully stated they bought the showgrounds from Longford County Council earlier this year and that was their 'reasoning' for having the draw.
"Now we own the showgrounds.
"A small local agricultural show own their grounds.
"It's a success story. There is only probably half a dozen in the country that actually own their grounds."
Gerry thanked main sponsor Tom McNally Motors Longford who supplied the jeep and provided a €2,000 prize for the main class of their cattle competition.
"The county council came on board as well and they helped us as much as they could.
"Our local councillors, Cllr Pádraig McNamara who's the Cathaoirleach of Granard MD now, and Turlough McGovern, they were a great help to us with the council to make this happen.
"It's not just about the jeep that we bought to make a few pounds for the show. There was reasoning behind it."