West Cork town vows to move heaven and earth to help Norwegians land balloon prizes

An Irish town has launched a massive community campaign to ensure the red carpet is rolled out for a Norwegian family who found their message-on-a-balloon 2,500km away.

Intensive efforts were under way in West Cork last night to secure flights to Ireland for Linda Taule, and her family of five, from Nausdal in western Norway, so they enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime holiday in Dunmanway, the birthplace of Sam Maguire, and collect a host of prizes, later this summer.

The remarkable story of how a little balloon with a big list of prizes made it all the way from Dunmanway to the mountains of western Norway was the talk of the town yesterday.