The winners of the ‘Win A House in Fermanagh’ competition run by Club Éirne, are newlyweds Cathal and Cora McErlean from Dungannon who are still in shock following the announcement on Monday night (April 10).

Cora has strong Fermanagh connections with her mother Siobhan (nee McManus) from Enniskillen while her late father was Trevor McNulty from Belcoo.

A delighted Cora commented that it’s a “massive start in life” for them following their recent wedding.

After months of promotion, the competition came to a close on Easter Monday at 11pm when Cathal’s name was drawn as the winner of the four-bed house in Drumgarrow Village, Enniskillen worth £300,000.

However, at first his wife Cora, who was on night duty, working in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast at the time of the announcement, didn’t believe that they had actually won.

“I was on night duty so I didn’t really know because I was only really able to look at my phone every now and again,” she told The Impartial Reporter on Tuesday morning, adding: “[Then the news came trickling in and] I didn’t really know if it was true. I couldn’t get in contact with Cathal for a while so I actually didn’t believe it.

“We’re just recently married and we don’t have a house or anything at the minute so I just can’t believe it.”

Although Cora isn’t from Fermanagh herself, as mentioned she has strong family connections to the county through her parents.

Still not believing her luck Cora added: “There’s a few special people I’d say had a hand in our good luck.

“And the house is only about half a mile from my granny’s house so it’s a wee bit extra special,” she said, adding: “It’s just a massive start in life for us.

“It’s just unbelievable.”

The money raised by Club Éirne from ticket sales for the competition will aid Fermanagh GAA County Development Committee’s plans to develop a new state of the art Sports and Leisure Pavilion at Lissan.