A large family syndicate from Mayo has officially become the largest Lotto winners in the history of the game in Ireland after they claimed a jackpot prize worth €19,060,800 at Lotto HQ in Dublin this week.
The ecstatic family who wish to keep their win private, won the most coveted Lotto jackpot of all time when they won the €19.06 million prize on Saturday, January 15 with a Quick Pick ticket they bought at Laura’s XL store in Castlebar.
After claiming their prize at Lotto HQ in Dublin city centre, the large family excitedly discussed how they have come to terms with being Ireland’s largest Lotto jackpot winners ever and how they plan to make the very most of their new found fortune by helping their close friends and the wider community.
Discussing the exact moment that they realised they had the all-important winning ticket, a spokesperson from the €19.06 million winning syndicate said: "That Saturday night back in January is still a blur and even though we’re finally collecting a cheque for over €19 million, we’re still waiting for somebody to tell us that we made a mistake and we’re not the winners at all!
"There was a lot of excitement about the draw that night, so we watched it on the television at home. I had the ticket in my hand and to see the six numbers come out one after another was like an out of body experience – it’s impossible to explain. We didn’t get carried away one bit because we thought that there was no way we could have won it.
"We got the phones out and frantically started scanning it on the National Lottery App. After about 20 minutes, the ticket scanned, and a message popped up that will live with us all for the rest of our lives. It said, ‘You’ve won big!’ It was such an incredible moment."
As Lotto fever gripped Mayo in the direct aftermath of the €19.06 million win, the close-knit family were coming to terms with their life-changing Lotto win away from the celebrations in Castlebar town.
"In the days after the draw, it wasn’t publicly known where exactly the win was, so it was funny to see the excitement growing when it was announced in Mayo and then in Castlebar.
"One night we were watching the news on TV when somebody in Mayo was interviewed, and they mentioned that they better check their tickets to see if they were the lucky winner. One of the family shouted at the TV, ‘Don’t bother checking because we’ve got the winning ticket right here’. We all absolutely burst out laughing knowing that all this fuss was being made and we had the winning ticket all along.”
The group have taken some time out to consider their plans after claiming the €19.06 million prize and they have vowed to share their good fortune with those close to them while they also plan on helping community groups and charities which are close to their heart.
"It’s such a huge sum of money so as a group, we will be taking as much time as we need to get the right guidance before we make any big decisions. While we all will have our own individual plans, the big thing we want to do is help our wider family, close friends and indeed our community in any way we can.
"Of course, we will be paying off whatever mortgages and loans that we have but we have also drawn up a list of people to help in our communities and we look forward to helping out some charities and organisations in the coming months. It really is such an exciting time in our lives and we can’t wait to get started to changing peoples lives," a spokesperson added.
