Tipperary treasure Roz Purcell announces a thrilling Trip to Tipp as CANNONBALL 2012 makes its last stop at Dundrum House Hotel

On September 16th 2012, CANNONBALL in aid of Laura Lynn House, makes its final stop at Dundrum House Hotel outside Cashel in Co Tipperary at 1pm with the thunderous roar of 150 super cars.  Thousands of Cannonball Fans are expected to flock to Dundrum House to meet the drivers and get up close and personal with most of the world’s top mark cars such as McLaren, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche, Masseratti, Rolls Royce and Bentley.   Enthusiastic fans can take photographs and enjoy a great family day out as the cars rest for a few hours before the final journey to Kilkenny.The star-studded convoy goes coast to coast, north and south of the border this year with 150 of the finest cars on the planet.  This adrenalin fuelled event is the largest organised road trip in Europe and the most exciting motoring and social event of the year. Over 100,000 people will line the streets all over Ireland as Cannonball, sponsored by XSDirect.com, blazes a trail through towns and counties to raise funds for Laura Lynn House which supports children with life limiting conditions and their families by providing high quality transitional care, home support, respite, crisis and end-of-life care.

Cannonball is the brainchild of AB Signs proprietor, Alan Bannon and is now in its fourth year having already risen over a quarter of a million euro for Children’s charities.   The star-studded convoy includes some of Irelands best loved celebrities and household names. World Famous chart topperBRUNO MARS  joined our own Shane Lynch in 2010, former Miss World Rosanna Davison and boyfriend Wes Quirke are annual Cannonballers whilst No Frontiers Presenter Kathryn Thomas, TV3’s Elaine Crowley also take to the roads every year.  Models Georgia Salpa, Hazel O Sullivan, Emma Quinlan and Holly Carpenter have been keen Cannonballers over the years as well as DJ Steve Cooper from 98FM, Jennifer Maguire, Andy Quirke, the 2FM Ballbusters and the glamorous XPOSE girls from TV3.

Cannonball 2012 consists of 3 action packed days taking in some of Ireland’s most scenic routes both north and south of the border.  On day one, Cannonball will leave Merrion square with a thunderous roar as the star-studded convoy heads up to Northern Ireland for the first time and takes a lunch stop at the beautiful Galgorm Resort and Spa in Ballymena where the cars can be viewed by car enthusiasts and fans.  Cannonball then tours through Northern Ireland taking in the spectacular Giant’s Causeway on up to Glenarm Castle where the cars will once again be on display.  Cannonball finally comes to rest at the iconic Titanic Belfast where the cars will be viewed against the historic backdrop of the Titanic slipways as drivers dine and then get set to party the night away at the hip Café Vaudeville in Belfast City.   The event and each stop is infused with an electric atmosphere featuring Brazilian dancers,snake charmers, fire eaters, music and, of course, the unique CANNONBALL style and generosity.

On Day 2, Cannonball will make its way to Enniskillen for a lunch stop at Lough Erne Resort and then to Galway City to the cheers of thousands of fans, street entertainment, music and the electric atmosphere that Cannonball brings. On the final day, the gleaming supercars will take in Counties Clare and Limerick with a lunch stop a at Dundrum House Hotel, Golf and Leisure Resort near Cashel in Tipperary before embarking on the final journey to the finish line in the beautiful city of Kilkenny where the roars of the engines will compete with a cheering crowd of over 10,000 people.

This celeb and party soaked cross country run is eagerly awaited in each of the destinations by thousands of fans with street festivals planed all over the country. Spectators and car enthusiasts along the route will hear the roar of the mighty convoy as they approach and all prestige cards are on view to the public as they cross the finish line at the end of each day. Now in its fourth year, Cannonball is more popular than ever and is now Europe’s largest organised road trip with drivers and celebrities from all over the world helping to raise much needed funds for Laura Lynn House.

With people coming from as far as Italy, Germany, US, UK and Monaco, this event is set to put Ireland on the world map once again and is a firm fixture in motoring history. Cannonball 2012 main sponsor, XS Direct car insurance, specialises in low-cost car insurance for high premium drivers.  With over 100 supercars set to join this year’s action-packed road trip, the link with performance motoring fans is ideal, says Chris McCann, Managing Director at XS Direct. “The Cannonball supercar drivers are a fine example of drivers that won’t pay a super-premium with XSDirect.com, other customers that prefer the XS Direct approach are drivers that have lost their no claims bonus. The charity that will benefit from the Cannonball 2012 is the LauraLynn House, we will be supporting the fund raising efforts of LauraLynn as the event moves through each town, explained Chris McCann. Corporate sponsors this year include Manhattan Nuts and Popcorn, Supermacs, Beshoffs, Toys for Big Boys, E25 Supercar Club, Holywell, AB Signs, Parfit, Brazilia, Michel Jewellers See www.cannonball.ie