Irish eyes are smiling after big family syndicate wins country’s biggest jackpot
BY MICHELLE DEVANE A LARGE family syndicate from County Dublin has come forward to claim the £153million EuroMillions jackpot.
One of the syndicate members said she realised the family’s good fortune when she checked the winning ticket on Tuesday night after the numbers were drawn.
She said: “I heard on the RTE news that 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 that we had won.”
She said she put the winning ticket in an Argos catalogue and put it under her mattress overnight for safekeeping until the family deposited the ticket.
“I didn’t sleep a wink all night,” she said.
The winning ticket was sold at Reilly’s Daybreak newsagents in the village of Naul, in the north of the county. The jackpot is the largest in the country’s history.
Ireland’s National Lottery confirmed on Wednesday the family had come forward and deposited the winning ticket with them for safekeeping.
Arrangements are now being made for the prize claim to be paid out in the next few weeks.
A family spokesman said: “This is unbelievable. It will take us some time to get our heads around this win and to organise ourselves.”
The spokesman, married to one of the syndicate, added: “We are a very close family.
“We meet every week and we take holidays together every year. 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 family have lived in the area for two generations.
Most of the members of the syndicate are retired and are looking forward to having time to enjoy their winnings.
The family spokesman also said: “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.”
The winning numbers were 1, 8, 18, 19 and 39. The Lucky Stars were 7 and 9.