National Lottery HQ was buzzing with excitement after three groups of winners collected substantial prizes in recent days.
Among them was a family syndicate of four from Dublin who were presented with a cheque for €1m which they won in the draw on September 28.
They bought the winning ticket at Spar in The Square Shopping Centre, Tallaght. The head of the syndicate checked the ticket on Sunday morning and couldn’t believe his eyes.
“I burst into my daughter’s room, startling her awake, and said, ‘Here quick, rub your eyes and check that’,” he said.
His daughter checked the numbers, and the two sat across from each other in shock and silence. He said he hasn’t stopped trembling since discovering their win.
He hid the ticket between t-shirts in his wardrobe for safekeeping and contacted the National Lottery Claims Team first thing on Monday morning.
When asked if they had any splurge plans, he said: “Nah, I’ll still be shopping in Penneys.”
Another member of the syndicate arrived from a weekend of socialising shortly after they discovered the news.
They said: “Any headache I had from the weekend soon disappeared when I got the news that we’d won €1m.”
The family plans to split the jackpot equally, with each member receiving €250,000. They plan to celebrate with a special dinner and some travel around the world.
Also claiming a significant prize was a syndicate from Cork, who took home €262,554 from the EuroMillions draw on September 3.
The group, consisting of four friends, has been playing together for two and a half years and will each receive €65,638. But they almost didn’t buy the ticket.
One friend said: “Myself and another syndicate member were debating who would buy the ticket for that night’s EuroMillions draw.
“I convinced him I would, as I wanted to grab a chocolate bar for my evening treat. If I’d let him buy it, we’d have missed out on €65,000 each.”
Meanwhile, a player from Kildare collected a cheque for €82,584 after matching 5 numbers and the bonus in the September 28 Lotto draw. The winning ticket was purchased at Spar, Newtown, Maynooth, Co Kildare.
