February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — An island off the Galway coast is the big prize in an internet lottery auction.
Bior Mor, or Birmore Island, is 30 acres of sheep grazing about 20 minutes by boat from Carna in Connemara. It has been uninhabited since the 1930s when the last two families left.
South African Philip Middleton is running the lottery, with the island as the top prize, from a website based in Hong Kong. Tickets start at $25 dollars and the lottery is being promoted in www.winireland.com.
A series of draws for various prizes start on May 1 and the main draw for the island will be in April 2002.
Under the Gaming and Lotteries Acts, people subject to Irish law are prohibited from participating in foreign lotteries — though thousands buy tickets in the British Lottery every week, mainly through outlets in Northern Ireland.
Sign up to The Irish Echo Newsletter