Aircraft carrier tickets to be drawn in lottery

A LOTTERY is to be held for tickets to visit the US aircraft carrier, the USS John F Kennedy, which is visiting Dublin for three…

A LOTTERY is to be held for tickets to visit the US aircraft carrier, the USS John F Kennedy, which is visiting Dublin for three days in July.

The National Lottery has undertaken to hold the draw for tickets. A maximum of 10,000 people can visit the carrier which will be at anchor a mile off Dun Laoghaire harbour, the nearest it can sit to the shore.

Tickets will be allocated in batches of four to the 2,500 winners of the lottery. Entries are by post to: The National Lottery, USS JFK Draw, PO Box 10,000, Dublin 1 and the closing date for applications is June 4th.

The visit will be accompanied by a series of displays by aircraft from the carrier although the military attache to the US Embassy, Col Bill Torpey, said yesterday the visit was not intended as a "show of military strength . . . it is purely a goodwill visit."

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More than 5,000 sailors serve on board the vessel, the second biggest in the US navy.

The events surrounding the visit start with a performance by the ship's band at Wexford on June 29th. On June 30th there will be a fly by along the east coast from Wexford to Dublin by four aircraft, two 514 and two 518 fighter bombers, from the JFK.

The JFK arrives off Dun Laoghaire on July 2nd and public visits are from July 3rd to 5th.