NEW YEAR’S FORTUNE
A couple who scooped a £115m EuroMillions jackpot on New Year’s Day say they plan to share their good fortune. Frances and Patrick Connolly, from Moira in Northern Ireland, have begun drawing up a list of family and friends to benefit, which stands at 50.
NOT SINCE the invitations were drawn up for last year’s Royal wedding has a place on a list been so coveted.
The 50 people whose names have been scribbled on a piece of paper by Frances and Patrick Connolly, have yet to learn that they are to share in the fourthbiggest win lottery win ever to be claimed in the UK.
But the Connollys, from Moira in Northern Ireland, said they were determined to spread their new-found £115m wealth around.
“This is a massive sum of money and we want it to have a huge impact on the lives of other people we know and love as well as on our future too,” said Mrs Connolly, 52, whose husband landed the New Year’s Day jackpot with a lucky dip in the EuroMillions draw.
“This win gives us the chance to really make a difference for our family and friends,” she added.
“I always hoped we would win the lottery one day, but when we did, it would be just our luck that lots of others would win on the same day with the same numbers too. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would ever win almost £115m.”
Mr Connolly, 54, said the news felt “unreal”, and that he and his wife had sat in silence after they had realised they had won, struggling to take it in.
Mrs Connolly said: “We don’t really do excited – perhaps I raised my voice just a bit at the time when I found out – but we celebrated with a cup of tea and a hug.”
The couple, who have been together for 30 years and have three grown-up daughters and three grandchildren, are still deciding how to treat themselves.
They live in a rented home and had been considering a move to Croydon in March as Mr Connolly had been offered a new job as an operations manager.
However, he has now decided to retire.
Mrs Connolly has worked previously as an educational programme co-ordinator and is planning to do a PhD in clinical psychology.
She said deciding how far to spread the good fortune would be tough.
“I’m going to cry myself to sleep that I can’t help everybody. That will be really tough,” she said.
In 2011, Colin and Chris Weir, from Ayrshire, became the biggest lottery winners in the UK and across Europe, when they took home more than £161m. A couple in Suffolk, took home more than £148m in 2012.