Give up work? What a load of rubbish, say Lotto-winning bin men
Two Carlow bin men who today called to National Lottery headquarters to collect a hefty Lotto cheque for €224,498 were far from down in the dumps.
As they sipped champagne in the Winners Room the delighted duo from Ballon, Co. Carlow, declared rumours they were going to give up the day jobs after their win were “a load of old rubbish”.
An ecstatic John Brophy and Alan Williamson won the Lotto Match 5 + Bonus prize on Saturday June 3. The winning Quick Pick ticket was sold at the Centra Store in Ballon, Co Carlow on Thursday June 1.
Originally from Ballon and now living in Carlow the winners work for Ray Whelan Waste Management which provides a professional waste collection service for domestic and commercial customers.
The lucky winners told how a change in their bin lorry driving duties led to their mega win.
Staff of the company have a long-running Lotto syndicate but Alan and John decided to do their own mini syndicate when they were assigned to the “spare lorry” on Thursday June 1.
“We were off our usual route with this lorry so we thought we would pop into Centra in Ballon to buy a ticket for our newly formed, ‘Spare Lorry Syndicate’. Little did we know we’d be sitting in the National Lottery Winners Room with a massive cheque over a week later,” said John Brophy.
In a surprising admission, plucky bin man Alan Williamson confessed that he had never played Lotto before and he owes his massive win to his persuasive colleague.
“I can’t ever remember playing Lotto before,” he laughed. “When we were in the truck, John was pestering me to play a line with him so I gave him a few euros to share the ticket. His powers of persuasion paid off big time,” he said.
Both men said they had no plans to “get thrashed” after their big win. They are planning a quiet celebration with their families this weekend and have no plans yet as to how they will spend their win.
