ICU nurse’s free wedding is the perfect tonic!

An ICU nurse from Corofin and her fiancé from Tuam have won the wedding of a lifetime – in a competition created by one of the country’s best known restaurateurs and chefs, especially for frontline health care workers.

Aileen Burke from Corofin, an ICU nurse at UHG, and Gerard Cunniffe from Tuam have won the luxury wedding at the Virginia Park Lodge in County Cavan.

The competition was the brainchild of Celebrity Chef, Richard Corrigan, who offered the prize, a wedding for a frontline healthcare worker at his 18th century estate.

The couple will enjoy a special guest performance by singer/songwriter Mundy on the day – but the prize also includes their photography, wedding invites, wedding cake, flowers, wine, hair and make-up – as well as the wedding function itself.

The #CorrigansVowToTheFrontline competition attracted almost 3,000 entries – and in the process also raised over €36,421 for the Society of St Vincent de Paul.

The Galway couple said that they were overwhelmed and could not believe the news when told about their win.

Aileen and Gerard are now meeting management at Virginia Park Lodge this week to set a date and arrange the details for their luxury wedding.

They had originally planned to marry on March 27 – the day the full Covid-19 lockdown came into force. That date would also have marked their tenth anniversary of meeting.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now – or order a digital copy online. Get full details here on www.connachttribune.ie