Taking in the sights… Emer and Damian Kelly at Sydney Opera House.
By Diarmaid Doherty
A Letterkenny couple have returned home after enjoying the trip of a lifetime to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia.
Emer Kelly was the lucky winner of a Super Valu Scan to Win competition and her prize was an all expenses paid trip for two to Sydney and tickets to two games including the Republic of Ireland’s opening game against the hosts Australia.
Emer and her husband Damian spent six nights in Sydney and are home again after what she says was a brilliant holiday and a once in a lifetime experience.
“We’d never won anything before, so to win something like this was just really special,” Emer said.
“The way we were looked after when we were in Australia, and to get to see Ireland playing in their opening match was such a wonderful experience.”
Emer, a retired teacher at Lurgybrack National School, is a native of Co. Mayo and it was on one of her regular trips down home that she stopped in Super Valu in Grange, Co. Sligo, one of the shops running the Scan to Win World Cup competition.
A number of days later, she got a call to say she was a winner.
“When the lady phoned me up to tell me how I’d won first prize, I thought she was having me on,” Emer said.
“She suggested she’d give me some time to take it all in and she’d phone me back again to go through all the details.”
Emer and Damian arrived in Australia on July 19 and they attended the Ireland v Australia match the following evening at Stadium Australia.
Before the game, they were brought pitchside where they got to see the Irish squad – including Donegal players Amber Barrett and Ciara Grant – go through their warm-up.
“Even to walk out through the tunnel and out onto the pitch to take in the surrounds of the stadium was just brilliant,” Emer said.
“We were so well looked after. Everything was laid on for us. We were in a corporate box for the game and we were treated to a meal and drinks before the game too.”
Their trip also included tickets to the France v Jamaica game while there were visits to a host of local sites and visitor attractions.
“The atmosphere at the games was brilliant and it will be something we’ll always remember,” Emer added.
Emer and Damian, who is retired from the Civil Service, have three children, Eoin who lives in London, Aisling (Dublin) and Tara who is a student at NUIG.
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