By 
POMEROY couple, Ciara Deeny and her husband Conail, will celebrate their first wedding anniversary in beautiful Venice this weekend with a bit more spending money that they expected – a whopping £80,000!
Last Friday evening, the couple were propelled into ecstasy when Ciara got the Cool FM radio ‘Cash Call’ that just required her to know the amount on offer.
Soon, they were clinking the champagne glasses!
Ciara (nee Cush) is from Rock, while her husband Conail from Carrickmore is the son of GP Kieran Deeny, a former MLA for the area who was to the forefront in the campaign to retain the Tyrone County Hospital in Omagh.
Ciara joked that they decided to settle ‘half-way’ when they set up home in Pomeroy.
It was between 5pm and 6pm last Friday when the call came.
Ciara said, “I was at home with my husband Conail, choosing photos for our wedding album. When the phone rang I completely froze and thought ‘could this be the cash call?!’ When I heard Stuart Robinson’s voice, I immediately began reciting the cash call amount in my head, obviously not wanting to get it wrong!
“I felt like I was drunk! I had to rein it in and be sure to say the correct amount: £80,000! We kept it together fairly well but when the call ended, we screamed! It felt like a dream.”
Ciara, who teaches in Holy Trinity Primary School in Cookstown, is still dreaming as they think of ways to enjoy and invest the money as well as treat family and friends.
“Once the bills and finances are sorted, there will definitely be a few holidays on the cards. I will also be making donations towards local community groups that work closely with children and young adults with autism/learning difficulties.
“But for now, I will be spending the rest of my summer holidays celebrating with and treating my family and friends. It is a life-changing win but it is not career-ending like winning the lottery. We still have to pay bills and even if I did win millions, I would not want to give up my job. I love teaching.”
The happy couple were the talk of the county and further afield at the weekend as folk enjoyed a welcome good news story.
Packing for their trip to Venice, Ciara added, “We are ecstatically happy. I still can’t believe it! The phone has been flat out since with people congratulating us. My maiden name is Cush and it took some people a few days to figure out who it was.
“We have been sensible so far but we will enjoy the win and put it to good use.”