This year, a dream came true for a family living in Ireland. A family member bought a winning EuroMillions ticket worth 175.4 million euros! With this Jackpot they wrote history in Ireland, and the family is obviously ‘overjoyed’ because of the win.
Tight-knit family
The winners are part of a large family that lives in The Naul, in North Co Dublin. They’ve been well known in The Naul for two generations. The Irish family is very close, the spokesman told. They go on holidays together and meet almost every week. They don’t want the money to change their lives though. It’s already incredible that the money can be shared with younger and older family members, including the children and grandchildren.
Checking the winning numbers
One of the family members watched the news and heard that there was a win in Ireland. She decided to check the numbers online and simply couldn’t believe her eyes. It was the winning ticket! The numbers on the winning ticket were 01, 08, 18, 19, 39 with the Lucky Stars 07 and 09. That history was being written, was also shown by the website of the National Lottery on the night of the win. It completely crashed after it became clear that the Jackpot of 175,475,380 euros had fallen! It took a while before the Jackpot hit though. It had been rolling over for a couple of weeks, until 175 million euros was reached.
Unbelievable
It took a while before everyone in the family was convinced. A spokesman of the family told that the good fortune is unbelievable and that the family still has to get used to the idea. They still have to organize themselves again before they can enjoy the money. The woman who discovered the winning numbers decided to put the winning ticket in a catalogue of Argos and kept it safely under her mattress. It’s not really surprising that she did not sleep at all!
Where was the winning ticket bought?
The winning ticket was bought at the Daybreak store in The Naul. Shop owner Les Reilly told the press that he’s incredibly happy that he sold the ticket. The identity of the family member who bought the ticket is not known. Les Reilly hopes that it was a local person, because 80 percent of his customers is local. However, there are also business people who visit the town because it’s located near the airport.
Own syndicate, smaller prize
Funny enough, the shop also has its own syndicate. 112 people participate together and recently they won 38 euros on the draw. Not as much as 175 million euros, but Reilly can laugh about it. It also helps that the shop owner is a very lucky person himself, because six years ago he also won a big prize, namely 25.000 euros! Of course he bought the winning ticket at his own shop.
Buying an island?
Although the syndicate of Reilly did not win, he did tell what he would do with so much money. The shop owner, who receives money for selling the winning ticket, would give the money away or buy an island. Good idea!
When is the pay-out?
The good news still needs to sink in, the spokesman of the family continued. They’re a normal family and have to adjust. Especially the older family members, because some of them are already retired. They have enough time to enjoy the big win! On Tuesday the now very rich family deposited the winning ticket at the National Lottery to keep it safe. The prize will be paid out in the next couple of weeks.
Party in The Naul
The small town of The Naul is already celebrating the good news. There are balloons and champagnes all over the city and you can feel the excitement in the air. Fianna Fáil TD for Meath East Thomas Byrne said that he is absolutely delighted with the Jackpot win in his constituency. A big dream came true in a small village!
Highest Jackpot
The winning family absolutely wrote history in Ireland, because it’s the highest Jackpot in the history of the National Lottery ever. In 2005 a woman from Limerick named Dolores McNamara won the EuroMillions Jackpot of 115 million euros. This was previously the largest sum of money won in the lottery. Other winners were Patrick and Frances Connolly from Co Down, who now have 132 million euros on their bank account because of the EuroMillions Jackpot on New Year’s Day.
Reaction from the National Lottery
The CEO of the National Lottery, Dermot Griffin, is obviously very happy for the family and the lottery cannot wait to pay out the winnings. On Tuesday 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.