Thousandaire posers boost Firmount NS
A FUNDRAISING event by the Friends of Firmount National School was hailed a massive success as the Oriel House Hotel, Ballincollig, hosted a special edition of ‘Who Wants to be a Thousandaire?’.
Proceeds from the hosting go towards the replacement of temporary prefab buildings with two new classrooms and the construction of a new Library, Resource Room and Sports Hall.
School Principal Christine O’Shea applauded everybody on investing considerable thought, effort and time in creating plans for the project and in bringing it to the point where construction work is well underway.
“We are overwhelmed with the response to the event, it was absolutely fantastic. A wonderful community night for Firmount and a mighty energy for the school, we’re thrilled with the outcome,” she said.
The production was based on the familiar TV show, contestants drawn from ticket sales and each contestant had a chance to win up to €1,000 on the night. All the excitement was packed into the production and the show was fully computerised with 50/50, Ask the Audience, and a Phone a Friend options.
Quizmaster George McGrath put the contestants at ease and a variation of questions added to the enjoyment but the eight contestants picked to play were careful not to risk their winnings.
Donoughmore’s Vincent Buckley hoped for a soccer question, none surfaced yet he picked up the biggest prize of the night by winning €500.
Nine-year -old Mollie Murphy assisted by her dad, showed no signs of nerves and required no lifeline on answering correctly, the new Duchess of Sussex is Meghan Markle, that helped her win €250.
Dan Caffrey knew his Clint Eastwood character for another €250 prize, the same amount collected by Eimear O’Hanlon, living on the Donoughmore to Coachford road certainly helped on the route number poser.
Also playing on the night were Conor O’Leary, Liam O’Hanlon, Denise Costelloe and Fergus Delaney.
Christine O’Shea said the project is a worthy investment for a community growing in population.
“Basically we had three prefabs that had reached their sell by date and we needed a new hall as well; numbers had doubled since the school was built just over 30 years ago and the existing hall was too small,” she said.
“We succeeded in getting Department funding but we’ve still had to do considerable fundraising to make this happen. The quiz generated widespread interest, thanks to the Friends of Firmount NS, sponsors, parents and public for supporting the hosting”, Christine added
Adding to the enjoyment was an auction of a framed Munster Rugby photograph, rugby tickets and premium level tickets for the Taylor Swift Concert in Croke Park.