Large family syndicate confirmed as winners of mega €175.4 million EuroMillions jackpot!
A large family syndicate from The Naul in North Dublin with connections to Bellewstown and Duleek has emerged as winners of last night’s mega €175.4 million 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 €115 million 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 organise ourselves.”
He 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.”
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 safekeeping 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.”
Thomas Gilligan, Musgrave Business Development Manager and Les Reilly, Daybreak Naul store owner who sold the winning ticket
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. “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.”
He added: “The National Lottery exists to raise funds for Good Causes all over Ireland and this EuroMillions jackpot sequence raised €8.9 million for organisations in the areas of health, arts, culture, heritage, youth, community, and the Irish Language. That will have a major impact on communities all over Ireland.”
“This is a historic day in the life of the National Lottery with the biggest ever payout from a draw based game since we were established in 1987. “