The Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) received a warm ‘Bualadh Bus’ from the National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) for their generous donation of a brand new, fully accessible minibus, which was presented to the charity today at Newlands Golf Club in Clondalkin. The Licensed Vintners Association, which represents over 750 publicans in Dublin, raised the funds through a number of fundraising ventures including the Charity Fundraising Golf Day which takes place each year.

NCBI, Ireland's primary service provider for people experiencing problems with their sight, offers a number of centre based services in Dublin. People using the services often rely on public transport, friends and family to attend these facilities. However, when this is not possible, NCBI often is required to provide such transport to and from their centres.

The NCBI Access Bus will be in a position to transport students and service users from their homes in Dublin or from the main train and bus stations to the centres in Glasnevin, Drumcondra and Clondalkin. "We are indebted to the Licensed Vintners Association for their hard work and fundraising on our behalf" said Jim Hanlon, Honorary Treasurer of NCBI at the presentation. "To each and every one of them I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks for this extremely generous donation. The publicans of Dublin have shown once again their commitment to the development of services in their community and their willingness to consider the needs of those around them."

The Licensed Vintners Association, established in 1817, is the representative body of the on-licensed drinks trade in the greater Dublin area, an industry which employs upwards of 10,000 people. Members are provided with a range of economic, business, representative, information and consultancy service by the LVA.

Mr. Derry Kealy, the Vice Chairman of the Licensed Vintners Association, speaking at the event said that the LVA "were delighted to be able to support the extremely valuable work that NCBI does for the community in this way. I am glad to note that this is the 7th such presentation made by the LVA to worthwhile causes."

Over 200 publicans participated in the gala fundraising golf competition and dinner at Newlands Golf Club. The winning team from the ‘Steering Wheel’ in Clondalkin were Paul Curran, Bernard Cromin, Brian Dunne and Brendan Cronin finishing with a score of 88. They were each presented with John Rocca glassware by Noel Clarke, Senior Manager North City Business Centre, Ulster Bank and Derry Kealy, Vice Chairman of the Licensed Vintners Association.

All the golfers also tried their hand at a novelty competition to guess how many golf balls fitted into the Ford Transit Bus. John Birchall of the ‘Ranelagh House’ who guessed 10,005 was closest to the correct amount of 10,606, and was presented with a golfing voucher by Jim Hanlon. Entries ranged from 3,001 to 27,751,366.

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Sarah Gahan on 01 8307033 or 087 6846088