The Dungannon driver has confirmed that his name is in the entry list for Ireland's first World championship rally. And he will drive the Subaru S12 in which Eugene Donnelly won this year's Irish Tarmac championship.

It was after Meeke had beaten Donnelly and scored a stunning victory on the Ulster International at the beginning of September that the clamour for him to be given the chance to match himself against the best in the world reached a crescendo.

But it was always all about money and whether the £50,000 it will take to run him in a competitive car could be found.

Now sponsors have come on board and the former Citroen Junior World championship star says: "We are more than 75 per cent of the way there so I'm sure it is going to happen. The entry is in and we have a few weeks more to find the rest of it."

The Subaru is owned by former Tarmac champion Derek McGarrity and he insists: "If there is a shortfall we will find it. Kris is doing the rally."

McGarrity, in fact, was scheduled to drive the S12 in the Donegal Harvest Rally tomorrow before it is returned to his Mossley base to be stripped down and the engine and transmission system dispatched to Prodrive, Subaru's competition headquarters in Banbury to be re-built.

But last night he made the decision to stand down and let Meeke drive it in Donegal instead.

"We want to give Kris the best chance possible so the engine will be uprated to the 12B specification which was used by the works team in the World championship earlier this year," said McGarrity. "And it makes sense for him to really get a feel for the car in competitive conditions so I've decided he'll drive it tomorrow."

It was on board another of McGarrity's DMG team Subarus, the Pirelli S11 car, that Meeke won the Ulster Rally having earlier scored his first Irish Tarmac international win on the Rally of the Lakes in a similar S11 from McKinstry Motorsport.

He walked away from the World championship at the end of last season when, having proved himself the fastest driver in the JWRC series, he still failed to find a place in one of the manufacturer teams.

It was Kenny McKinstry who persuaded him to come back and drive in the Circuit of Ireland and the Rally of the Lakes and although Meeke demonstrated that he is the fastest, most accomplished Irish driver of the moment, there seemed little prospect of him appearing on Ireland's first World championship rally.

But then McGarrity stepped in with the offer to drive his S11 with Pirelli backing on the Ulster Rally. Such was Meeke's performance McGarrity immediately set the wheels in motion to find a way of running him in Rally Ireland, even putting his own planned appearance to the side.

"We've worked hard to pull the deal together and a lot of people are helping but I think he is the only driver in Ireland capable of getting anywhere near the works cars," said the triple Circuit of Ireland winner.

"There are at least seven cars that nobody will get near - two Citroens, three Fords and two Subarus - but I believe Kris has a good shot at being the best of the rest. And, given a bit of luck, he could be in the top five which would be outstanding for a private entrant."

Meeke is naturally delighted. He says: " A lot of people have come on board to help and I'm very grateful but I want to say a special thanks to Kenny McKinstry and Kevin Barrett who got me back into a rally car earlier in the year when I felt it was all over for me. Now I've got the chance to be part of our first WRC event."

Meeke's backing comes from a group of local businessmen, most with motorsport backgrounds, including Seamus Heron, Michael Nugent, Gerry McVeigh, Keith McIvor and Rally School Ireland where he can often be found working as an instructor.

Donnelly is also in the Rally Ireland starters' list and is expected to switch to the McGarrity's S11 Subaru.

Wednesday was the entry deadline for the November 15/18 event which is based in Sligo but starts with a super-special stage in the grounds of Stormont.

The maximum number of starters will be capped at 90 and that number has, as expected, been exceeded.

"We are well over the quota and within the next few days we will decide on the 90 starters. A seeded entry list has to be forwarded to the FIA in Geneva by next Wednesday," said entries secretary Clare Walsh.