Baylough"s Clare walks away with Opel Tigra in Athlone Towncentre competition!

Baylough woman Clare McNally couldn"t believe her luck last Saturday afternoon when she became the proud owner of a brand new Opel Tigra Convertible having won Athlone Towncentre"s latest car competition! The competition had been run since the end of July with over 30 finalists drawn for the grand final event which was hosted on Saturday last in Athlone Towncentre by 2FM"s Damien Farrelly. There was a huge crowd in attendance for the grand final with each of the finalists bringing plenty of their family and friends as support. 'I"m absolutely over the moon,' Clare commented. 'I"ve never won anything before and I was amazed to have even been chosen for the final 30, never mind winning the car!' Each finalist was presented initially with a voucher for €100 for one of the participating stores in Athlone Towncentre and in their envelope found a coloured ticket. After the rounds of group eliminations it was down to the final five finalists who were each given a key for the stylish Opel Tigra Convertible and brought forward to see if their key was the lucky one to open the car. Clare was the second finalist to test the key and couldn"t believe her luck when her key popped the lock on the slick convertible car. 'I was really nervous in the last few rounds. When I was given the key I was afraid I might scratch the car with it by accident! I really couldn"t believe it when the door opened,' she added. Clare, who works as a nurse in Stella Marris Nursing Home, trained as a nurse in Liverpool for six years before returning to Athlone two years ago. 'The residents say a decade of the Rosary every night and I asked them to say one for me too. They all want a trip in the car now!' Clare said. As she is currently driving her brother"s car while he serves in Kosovo, Clare is now delighted to have her own set of wheels. 'I still can"t believe that I won. I"m in a daze altogether. I"m looking forward to driving around the town in style!' she adds. Speaking at the event, Shirley Delahunt, Marketing Manager, explained that these lucky finalists were drawn from over 45,000 entries. 'This draw was our way of saying thank you to all of our customers who have been supporting the centre over the last number of months. The centre is steadily growing as we approach our first birthday in November. This is the first of a number of promotions that Athlone Towncentre has planned over the course of the coming months and underpins the great value that Athlone Towncentre has to offer its customers. 'We are absolutely delighted for Clare with her win - she was a fantastic finalist on the day and we hope that both herself and her boyfriend Thomas have many years of stylish and safe driving in her new Tigra and also that she gets a little bit of sunshine to enjoy the benefits of her new convertible!'