Carndonagh rallies to help voluntary group hit by hackers

People around Inishowen have rallied to help the Carndonagh Traders Association after it was left thousands in debt due to fraud.

The fraud occurred as the group was paying a bill associated with its Halloween carnival when the payment was intercepted by hackers.

The group has been left with a large debt to a local business that it is determined to clear and says it has been buoyed by the community response to paying off the sum owed.

Almost €2,000 has been raised by an online GoFundMe campaign set up by a member of the public in Carndonagh after the fraud and donations by members of the local community have also helped the trader's association clear the debt.

The voluntary group is also running a St Patrick's Day draw in an effort to raise the outstanding amount from the sum that was stolen in November.

Tickets for the draw are on sale at shops and businesses in the Carndonagh area.

Sales for tickets for the draw, which has €8,000 in prizes, have been strong, Deirdre Bradley, chair of the association said.

“Because we are a voluntary community group we wanted to repay the debt and leave everything as it should be,” she said.

“We have had very, very kind local people leaving in donations in small amounts, whatever they could. Local people were as distraught as we were as they know the traders association does a lot for the town and we want to keep doing what we are doing and keep the community involved as much as the businesses.”

She said people have been coming from around the peninsula to buy tickets for the draw, which has a first prize of €5,000, and online sales in other parts of the country have been made.

“The goodwill has been so good, not just from people in Carndonagh but people from Buncrana, Clonmnay, Culdaff, Moville and Malin. People from all over Inishowen and further afield have been buying tickets.”

She said the group has been “blown away” by the response from the community.

“Something bad happened and we were devastated to lose that money for the community but a lot of good has come out of it. The amount of goodwill and kindness we received as a community group is so uplifting.”