John Talks To Us About Ripping Up That All-Ireland ‘Ticket’

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John Dowling hands over an envelope with the cheque for €2000 to Ardfert GAA club president, Frank Wallace. Photo by Gavin O’Connor

THE Ardfert man who became an internet sensation on Tuesday when the video of him earning €2,000 for his club in an AIB challenge, has spoken to TraleeToday.ie about the experience.

When, John Dowling, a teacher at Mercy Mounthawk, was faced with the difficult decision of ripping up his All-Ireland final ticket in exchange for a cheque for his club, he chose his club, Ardfert, over Kerry (see the video here).

“Me and my girlfriend Ursula were walking into Croke Park and  we were stopped by these two guys who wanted to a ask us a few questions about my club on camera. I said grand, once I didn’t miss the minor game,” said John on Tuesday afternoon.

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“They asked to see my ticket so they could take down the serial number and I thought nothing of it They gave it back to me and I just seen it had Hill 16 on it so I didn’t look at it any further. I had no idea they had switched it,” said John.

“They started out by asking me general questions about the club and what it meant to me,” said John.

“Then the guy just popped the question; ‘if you would do anything for your club, if I offered you €1,000 right now to rip up your final ticket, would you do it?’,” said John.

“Straight away, I thought the fact that this was the first All-Ireland final my girlfriend had been, to I wouldn’t do it, then he said he would double it. At that point it got serious,” John said.

“I said could I see the cheque? They wrote it out and I could see that it was all proper,” said John.

“The thing that was holding back was this was Ursula’s first final and I wanted to be there with her, but she said to rip up the ticket and take the money, so I did,” said John.

“They left me hanging a bit after I ripped it, saying well done you have won €2000 for your club,” said John.

“I was delighted about that, but my next thought was, I can’t go to the match now!” said John.

“A crowd of about 40 people had gathered and they were clapping. The guy then said to me that they had switched the ticket and gave the real one back to me,” said John

“At the moment I just had a sense of a relief. I would have been gutted if I had missed us doing the double,” said John.

At the cheque handover on Tuesday evening to President of Ardfert GAA, Frank Wallace was grateful for the money.

“It’s fantastic that he won the money, it’s badly needed as we’re trying to pay for a new pitch. We don’t mind where the money comes from,” said Frank Wallace.

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