THE JOLLY ROGERS
»»Nine siblings celebrate Ireland’s biggest windfall »»Store toasts success after selling golden ticket
NINE brothers and sisters were last night celebrating their incredible €175million Euromillions jackpot.
The Rogers family syndicate was made up of six siblings but they added three more to share Ireland’s biggest windfall.
Staff at a Co Dublin store that sold the golden ticket also toasted the success.
A spokesman for the family said: “This is unbelievable. It will take us some time to get our heads around this win.”
IT was a case of sibling revellry yesterday as five sisters and four brothers celebrated winning Ireland’s biggest-ever Lotto prize.
The Rogers from Co Meath scooped the €175million jackpot on Tuesday’s Euromillions draw.
The syndicate only has six members – four sisters and two brothers – but they are to share the money among all the siblings.
It means each of the nine will pocket €19.4million each.
But the celebrations will be tinged with sadness as it emerged two other brothers died last year.
One of the sisters kept the golden ticket in an Argos catalogue under her mattress after realising they’d won.
A family spokesman, married to one of the syndicate, said they “didn’t sleep a wink all night”.
He added: “This is unbelievable. It will take us some time to get our heads around this win and to organise ourselves.
“We are a very close family. We meet every week and we take holidays together every year.
DREAM
“This is a dream come true for us. We don’t want this to change our lives. What is so exciting is that we will be able to share this money with children, grandchildren and extended family members.”
The Irish Daily Mirror can exclusively reveal the siblings meet to play the Lotto every Sunday – and finally hit it big this week.
And it is the second time fortune has favoured the family after a sister of Charlie Sheridan, from Duleek, Co Meath – the husband of one of Tuesday’s multi-millionaire sisters, won over IR£600,000 in the late 1980s.
The spokesman revealed the family were “numb” when they found out about their good fortune.
The family member said: “I heard it on the RTE news there was a win in Ireland and I caught the last three numbers.
“I checked the rest of the numbers online.
“I was numb. It took a bit of convincing everybody we had won.”
Another family friend said they are determined to keep their feet on the ground despite the windfall.
The friend said: “They are just a lovely family. You couldn’t meet nicer. Really salt of the earth people. No high or lofty aspirations since winning the Euromillions. They won’t be buying jets or mansions or anything like that. “They said they are going to look after their children and grandchildren and secure all their futures.”
The family have now deposited the ticket with the National Lottery and will receive their gigantic winnings in the coming days.
The spokesman added: “We know this is a huge story and there is great excitement over this win.
“We need time to let this news sink in and to prepare to collect our winnings. We are a normal family and we don’t want this to dramatically change our lives.
“Most of the family group are retired and are looking forward to having time to enjoy their winnings.”
A first cousin of the winning sisters, Paddy Mcconnon from Duleek, said: “They are a very tight family, well mannered and keep to themselves. Kathleen doesn’t work but Charlie does a bit of gardening work. He grew strawberries in a field in Donore and often sat on the side of the road selling them.
“They go to Lanzarote two or three times a year and I see them buying a place over there. They
play Telebingo every week and Kathleen had been very ill so it couldn’t have happened to nicer people.”
Yesterday, the village of Duleek was coming to terms with the massive windfall with a neighbour joking “we’re living on millionaires’ row now”.
He added: “The family are living here 20 years or more and it’s great for the local people.”
It is understood the family celebrated on Tuesday night before making contact with the National Lottery yesterday morning. While there are other members of the family who are not part of the syndicate it is understood they will be looked after when the massive cash pile is collected.
The National Lottery described one of the winners as “surprisingly calm” and “very together” when they called the office to confirm they had the winning ticket yesterday morning.
But there would be scenes of celebration at the Daybreak store in Naul, Co Dublin, where the winning ticket was sold. Lottery spokeswoman Miriam Donohoe said: “There is great excitement. The shop that sells the winning Euromillions ticket receives €25,000 so it’s a nice payday for them too.”
National Lottery chief Dermot Griffin added: “Happy days like this is what playing National Lottery games is all about. We are just so pleased for the family and that this huge amount is being shared out.
“This is a historic day in the life of the National Lottery with the biggest payout from a draw based game since we were established in 1987.” The winning numbers were 1, 8, 18, 19, 39 and the Lucky Stars were 7, 9 and the jackpot total was €175,475,380.
I was numb ..it took a bit of convincing everybody that we won the jackpot
FAMILY SPOKESMAN
YESTERDAY