Lotto case loser and her ballroom dancing passion
But few who knew Mary and David Walsh were truly surprised
SKILLED ballroom dancers pride themselves on their turns, expertly anticipating with ease what is around the corner.
But as Mary Walsh and her champion dancing husband Peter glided their way around the dance halls of Ireland stepping from one final into another, they surely would never have predicted that the most intimate details of their family life would one day be publicly laid bare in a courtroom during a bitter feud over a €3.4m lottery win.
Theirs was a second-time-round-romance. Years before their paths crossed on the ballroom dancing circuit, Peter had married his late wife Madge and they lived in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, with their four children David, Alan, Siobhán and June.
Meanwhile, shop worker Mary from nearby Athlone, Co. Westmeath, was rearing her young family with her husband. But neither of their marriages worked out and the fallout from their broken relationships is at the heart of what ultimately led to Mary being sued by one of her stepsons for a share of the multimillion-euro Lotto win.
The ruling now paves the way for her stepson’s cousin to pursue a separate case against the Galway businesswoman. It is believed that David Walsh’s first cousin Kevin Black – one of the six signatories of the winning lottery ticket – employed a barrister to keep a watching brief on the case.
He was given €100,000 from the jackpot win and, this weekend, when asked by the Irish Mail on Sunday about taking legal action, Mr Black would not comment. A friend said: ‘We’re not commenting on anything at the moment.’
Last Friday, a judge ordered Mary Walsh, 66, to pay her stepson David €564,965.66 plus another €300,000 to cover both their costs of a sevenday High Court hearing, as well as an additional €65,000 to cover half of the estimated costs of any appeal Mary may take. As a result, the ballroom dancing hairdresser had to lodge €929,965.66 in court on Friday.
Meanwhile, Judge Richard Humphreys issued a freezing order blocking the pensioner from reducing her assets by €929,965.66. Tomorrow, legal teams for both Mary and David will return to the Four Courts in Dublin to argue over how long the freezing order should last and to organise how Mrs Walsh will disclose to her stepson the full extent of the assets she has acquired over the years. Despite its twists and turns, this is a saga that will surprise few who knew Mary and her stepson. A family friend explained: ‘Peter’s first wife Madge was a lovely woman and they had two sons and two daughters. When they split up, three of the children sided with their mother and, for a long time, David stayed out of it. But then he eventually sided with his father. ‘What happened in that family would put Eastenders and Emmerdale in the ha’penny place. At one stage I don’t think any of them were talking to their father. But when Peter died the only one of his children that was talking to him
‘She has to appeal to get her good name back’
was David. David has one brother and two sisters but they have no interest in money… I think if you offered them €100,000 they would push it back to you.
‘Sadly the rift will never be healed. It’s a pity that it got to this. Could it not have been sorted out differently between them? But when I heard what the judge said about Mary I thought to myself: “No wonder innocent people are sent to the gallows.”
‘It was the old story of the evil stepmother coming in and taking everything. But Mary and Peter were not mean – they were generous with their lottery win. I know they gave money to people – they gave one friend of theirs €10,000.
‘But what the judge said about her… I think she has to appeal to get her name back.’
Another friend said: ‘Peter and Mary met through ballroom dancing and they competed at a very high level. Peter was separated from Madge for many years. Mary just appeared out of nowhere and then she started working in the barber’s shop with Peter.
‘Their business was always very successful. Mary obviously fell in love with Peter and, from what I could see, they were as happy as Larry.
‘We all would like to win the lottery and when they won we wished them the best of luck. But they made a b ******* of it and it’s a lesson to anyone else.
‘I feel sorry for Mary and David, because it’s miserable that everything is out in public.
‘If they could have sorted it out before it got to this it would have been better.’
The winning ticket at the centre of the legal row between the stepmother and her stepson was bought at a local newsagents in Ballinasloe in January 2011, and what happened after that has been a bone of contention between the pair ever since. According to David, his father promised him a share of the jackpot – so that he would never have to worry about money again.
The 52-year-old painter insisted that he signed the back of the ticket the day after his father’s winning numbers came up.
But Mary maintained otherwise. She insisted in court that her stepson was offered a choice of either the family home – worth €135,000 – or €200,000.
Meanwhile, a source familiar with the case, told the MoS this weekend that when the ticket was signed will form the basis of any appeal Mrs Walsh may take.
But what is not in doubt is that the ticket was signed by six people – Mary, Peter, Mary’s two sons, Peter’s nephew Kevin Black and Peter’s son David.
Peter Walsh died from cancer in December 2011.
Despite the varying versions of what unfolded after the winning lottery numbers were picked out of the drum, Judge Humphreys preferred David Walsh’s recollection of what happened.
In his judgement last Friday, the High Court judge repeatedly described Mrs Walsh as an unreliable witness.
He also said her evidence was contradictory and scathingly described her as ‘ducking and weaving’ when questioned on the witness stand.
But, most cutting of all, he said that she was prepared to lie under oath to conceal assets from others, including stepson David.
These words would have wounded and felled a lesser woman but Mary sat upright at the edge of a hard court bench staring straight ahead without flinching.
At one point she was seen to shake her head in disagreement.
Mrs Walsh’s stoic reaction – or indeed the judge’s unflattering assessment of her – did not surprise many of those who knew her in Ballinasloe and on the ballroom dancing circuit.
A dancing colleague said: ‘When I was dancing and competing none of the men could dance with her because Mary was the leader.
‘When you’d meet her she’d behave as if: “You’re down there and I’m up there” – and that was before she ever won the Lotto. I think that says something about the type of woman she is.’
A local in Ballinasloe added: ‘Mary is a complete snot. If you met her on the street and said hello to her she’d look at you as if to say: “Why are you talking to me?”’
‘She always led; no man could dance with her’