February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Reigning Rose of Tralee Lisa Murtagh was on hand in Times Square Tuesday to cast a vote for Dublin.
The Irish capital has long had its own monopoly board, for generations a guide to the auld town’s most famous streets for players of all ages.
While Murtagh was backing Dublin in Times Square, the reigning Miss Blaithnaid McKenna, was doing the same back in candidate city Dublin.
Global games company Parker Brothers is launching the worldwide vote to find 22 cities to be included on the new Monopoly Here & Now: World Edition board.
People around the world can visit www.monopoly.com to cast votes. Voters are allowed to cast their ballots for up to ten cities each day of the vote, which will be open until 28 February 2008.
The city that receives the most votes will be placed on the highest rent property traditionally held on the Irish board by Shrewsbury Road and more recently on the new All-Ireland edition by County Roscommon which attracted most votes in a poll.
Irish bookmakers Paddy Power has put odds on Dublin making on the world board at 1/3.
Twenty cities that receive the most votes will be part of Monopoly history as the first cities selected to be on the World edition game board. However, two spaces on the board will be reserved for cities that are nominated through a wild card vote.
Any city in the world can be nominated for these property spaces, which means that Belfast and Cork might appear on the game board next to Paris, London or Dublin.
The wild card winners will occupy the low-rent property spaces traditionally held on the Irish board by Kimmage and Crumlin and by Donegal and Westmeath in the county version.