Syndicate scoops up Lotto winnings
EXCITEMENT turned to stunned disbelief for a lucky syndicate of Fermoy shop workers after they realised that a €177,790 winning ticket sold in the shop belonged to them.
The 15-strong syndicate toasted their success at Lotto HQ this week with a glass or two of bubbly and began planning how to spend their winnings, which worked out to be just shy of €8,000 each.
Syndicate leader Mary O’Connor said that since news of their windfall emerged, members had been inundated with messages of goodwill from colleagues and customers.
“The last few days have been just amazing,” she said.
THE aptly named ‘Lucky Thursday Syndicate’ of workers at Herlihy’s Centra in Fermoy were greeted with a very pleasant surprise last Thursday after discovering they had struck gold in the previous night’s lotto draw.
The thrill of finding out that a Lotto ‘ Match 5 + bonus’ prize-winning ticket had been sold in the shop quickly turned to stunned disbelief when it emerged the ticket actually belonged to the 15-member syndicate.
On Tuesday the elated syndicate members toasted their success at Lotto HQ in Dublin as they picked up their cheque worth €117,970 – or just shy of €8,000 per person.
They now intend to splash some of their cash, with car upgrades, home improvements and holidays coming high on some of their wish lists.
Syndicate leader Mary O’Connor said that when word of the win started spreading like wildfire through Fermoy, her first instinct had been to hope that one of their local, loyal customers had the winning ticket.
“When we arrived at work last Thursday the store manager was excitedly telling everyone that we had sold the winning ticket. We were thrilled to think that it could be one of our favourite customers that had won the prize,” she said.
It was not until later in the morning that Mary checked their ticket; a message came up telling her to contact the National Lottery.
While most people’s initial reaction would have been to tell her colleagues, Mary wisely decided to say nothing until she got official confirmation of the win.
“I was in absolute shock and couldn’t tell the rest of the syndicate until I was certain it was the winning ticket,” grinned Mary.
“Since then we have received incredible good will from customers and colleagues. The last few days have been just amazing.”