Share A Dream house ready to turn Christmas lights off for the last time

TODAY is traditionally the day for taking down the lights and decorations for another year, but for Helen and Jim Dunne, it is the last year for their dazzling Christmas lights display.

Having raised €160,000 for the Share A Dream Foundation, which gives terminally ill children a chance to realise a lifelong dream, they can no longer afford to pay the ESB bill at what has become known as “The House of Dreams”.

“We’ve never, ever taken money out of the boxes to run the lights,” said 63-year-old Helen, “and we always said that when the day came that we couldn’t pay the ESB, that would be the end.”