Children’s tears over Winter Blunderland

THOUSANDS of people, including 600 seriously ill children, were hit with a Christmas crisis yesterday as the Winter Wonderland project in the Curragh was cancelled.

Tears rolled down the cheeks of three-year-old Codi Browne and her pal, Síodhona Murphy, yesterday as their heartbroken mothers told them their long-awaited trip to Winter Wonderland was off.

Both girls have been through serious heart operations in the past year and were dreaming of meeting Santa Claus on November 30.

Codi had open heart surgery a short few months ago. And her pal, Síodhona, who will be five next month, has been through a string of operations and is on oxygen assistance 24 hours a day.

They were part of a group of 600 seriously ill children planning to visit the project. “There are kids in the group who won’t even see this Christmas, never mind next year, they are that ill. Some of them are on 24-hour oxygen and their parents can’t even go out to the shops. How will we tell these little kids that their dream trip is now off. We’ve heard nothing from Winter Wonderland,” Mary Browne, mother of Codi and organiser of the ill-fated trip said.

Ms Browne said the organisers of Winter Wonderland had also promised to donate some of the profits from the event towards buying a 150,000 heart machine for Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin. Racecourse bosses at the Curragh got a fax from Adrian Smyth, the businessman behind Winter Wonderland on Monday, saying the visitor attraction was cancelled due to circumstances beyond his control.It has left the Heart Children Ireland group absolutely shattered, as well as thousands of more who bought tickets online on the www.winterwonderlandireland.net website for the event.

Single tickets sold at 28; the family-of-three package sold for 84 and family-of-four tickets were available from 100. A more elaborate family package, allowing frequent access to Winter Wonderland was available for 480.

It is not yet clear how many tickets were sold or if patrons will be refunded. But one complainant to 2FM’s Gerry Ryan show yesterday morning said her invoice number was 3,800, leading to fears that thousands have been left out of pocket.

Eileen O’Shea from Newbridge in Kildare bought 21 tickets online and was planning a family and friends’ day-out on December 19. “I’ve been stung for 560,” she said.

“I phoned the credit card company and they say it’s a pending debit and they’re looking into it. But they may not be able to stop the payment.” It’s not just the money I’m angry over. It’s that I have to tell the children that this trip is off.”

There was no answer from the Winterwonderland ticket hotline or from a number listed on the website yesterday. There wasn’t an answer

either from Adrian Smyth’s home in Portarlington in Co Laois. He is the man behind the project.

Meanwhile, the operators of Santa’s Kingdom, a totally separate attraction at the Punchestown Exhibition Centre, phoned Joe Duffy’s Liveline show yesterday and offered to try to accommodate some of the sick children with Heart Children Ireland.