Handwritten drafts of a Seamus Heaney poem raised €27,000 at Saturday evenings auction in Ashford to fund a new arts centre to be located in the old Garda Station.

The auction took place in Mount Usher and Mr. Heaney attended for a short while. He has lived near Ashford since 1972 when he moved from Belfast.

The winning bidder was Wexford collector Liam O’Leary.

The devlopment association in Ashford needs to raise €135,000 to turn the old Garda station into an arts and heritage centre. The total raised at the auction is expected to total €55,000.