'Jacks of all trades' syndicate celebrate life-changing EuroMillions win
The 11-strong crew of tradesmen travelled from corners of the east of the country to Lotto HQ in Dublin on Wednesday to collect their €255,000 prize, which they won in the special EuroMillions Ireland Only Raffle being run throughout the month of May.
The syndicate, made up of builders, plumbers, electricians, and engineers, were one of 10 winners of the Ireland Only Raffle in the EuroMillions draw on May 27. And while that prize is usually worth €5,000, the National Lottery added an additional prize of €250,000 for one winner of the Ireland-Only Raffle for all nine EuroMillions draws during the month of May.
The group's winning Quick Pick ticket was purchased by head of the syndicate, Richard O'Brien, at Applegreen, on Newfoundwell Road in Greenbatter, Drogheda, Co Louth, on the day of the draw. That ticket held the all-important raffle number: I-SDL-14299.
The syndicate has been playing together for five years and the group has stuck to a simple system: one group chat, one EuroMillions ticket each, three lines with the Plus, and everyone keeping an eye on every ticket.
Shortly after the draw on May 27, one eagle-eyed member beat Richard to checking the tickets and sent a simple message to the group saying: "This is a winner!"
Richard initially thought they'd bagged a modest €5,000. "Then one of the lads said, 'Check again, we've won a lot more than that. There's a special raffle on.' I thought he was pulling my leg… until I looked it up. That's when I saw we'd won an extra €250,000!" said Richard.
"The phone was hopping with calls and texts for the rest of the night. It was madness but great excitement!" he added.
The next morning, Richard contacted the National Lottery Claims team to confirm the win. That evening, the group met up to sign the back of the winning ticket and celebrated their win together.
Since then, the 11-strong crew have been happily debating how to spend their handsome windfall. One of the syndicate members plans on buying a new couch for his partner, another is helping a family member save for a house, and the group chat is now full of holiday plans and chatter on sun destination.
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