The charity auction in aid of Energy Action on Wednesday night raised a grand total of £14,255 for home insulation for the elderly. The top prizes on the night were £900 for Riverdance composer Bill Whelan's music sheets and £850 for an original handwritten poem and doodle by Seamus Heaney. Mo Mowlam's gold scarf made £600 and might have made more if she had got there herself. She was in Dublin that night meeting the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, whose embroidered plaque was knocked down for £110.
The Michael D. Higgins's poem was sold for £80, Ruairi Quinn's painting, featured on this page last week, made £130 and the British ambassador, Veronica Sutherland's scene from her garden sold for £180. The attendance included interested parties Minister of State, Joe Jacob, and Green deputy, Trevor Sargeant.
