Member of large family syndicate kept €175m-winning EuroMillions ticket under mattress
A large family syndicate from The Naul in North Dublin have been confirmed as winners of last night’s €175.4m EuroMillions jackpot.
The family, who are today getting used to the idea of their dreams coming true, said they are overjoyed at their massive win.
This is the highest winning jackpot in the history of the National Lottery. The last highest win was €115m won by Limerick woman Dolores McNamara on a EuroMillions jackpot in 2005.
A family spokesperson, who is married to one of the syndicate, said: “This is unbelievable. It will take us some time to get our heads around this win and to organize ourselves.
“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.”
One of the syndicate members realised their good fortune when she checked the winning ticket after last night’s draw.
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.”
The family member put the winning ticket in an Argos catalogue and put it under her mattress for safe keeping. “I didn’t sleep a wink all night.”
Today, the family deposited the winning ticket for safe-keeping with the National Lottery and arrangements are now being made for the prize claim to be paid out in the next few weeks.
The spokesperson 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.”
Most of the family group are retired and are looking forward to having time to enjoy their winnings. They are a well-known family in Naul who have been in the area for two generations.
National Lottery CEO, Dermot Griffin, congratulated the family on this amazing win, saying: “Happy days like this is what playing National Lottery games is all about. We are just so pleased for the family and that this huge amount is being shared out.
“This is an historic day in the life of the National Lottery with the biggest every payout from a draw based game since we were established in 1987."
The record-breaking win tops the €115 million won by Dolores McNamara, from Limerick, in July 2005.
The second biggest win was in 2008 when a player from Tipperary won €15 million in 2008.
The EuroMillions jackpot had rolled over for several weeks and nearly reached the maximum payout of €190 million.
