Irish Syndicate Revealed as Winners of €17 Million Jackpot

Syndicate Advised to go Public

Rumours that the syndicate had won the lottery began circulating shortly after the draw and although the group had the option of maintaining its anonymity, its members decided to go public. Stakelums General Manager Joe Connolly, one of the lucky winners, said: “The National Lottery advised us to go public and with a group of 32 we were never really going to keep it quiet.”

One of the syndicate members is currently on holiday in Spain and has been told of the win. Connolly says that they are planning to pay for her flights back to Ireland so they can celebrate together. “Look, it’s great for everyone. It’s such a big group and over €500,000 is a lovely amount for everyone, it will clear a lot of mortgages”, he added.

The winning numbers from Tuesday’s draw were 9, 15, 22, 39 and 46, with Lucky Stars 4 and 5. The syndicate’s winning ticket matched all seven numbers to land a total jackpot of €17 million.

A Sad Night for Some Despite Big Win

The news of the jackpot win met with muted celebrations, however, as the group learnt that the father of one of the syndicate members passed away just an hour before the draw took place.

Talking about the moment they learnt of the win, Joe Connolly said: “Our financial controller...discovered late [on Tuesday] night we had won and he called me. But because of the bereavement we held it until Wednesday morning to speak to staff. There’s 70 staff and 32 of those are in the syndicate, so nearly 50% of the staff are happy workers today.”

The winners plan to collect their money from Dublin some time next week. National Lottery spokesperson Miriam Donohoe said: “We have procedures to go through. We are making arrangements for the money to be claimed. It takes some days for all of the money from the EuroMillion to land in our account.”

The winning QuickPick ticket was sold at Eason in Thurles Shopping Centre, a store that also sold a winning Lotto ticket worth €7.5 million just eight months ago. Shop owner Tom O’Toole said: “We are in shock. We can’t quite believe that we have sold two massive jackpot winning tickets in quick succession.”

It continues a lucky run for Irish EuroMillions syndicates as six of the 13 jackpot winners from the country have been awarded to groups of players. The biggest of those was an €88.5 million prize claimed by a group of Dublin-based colleagues in January 2017.

Teaming up with other players is a great way to increase your chances of winning without having to spend more money. The top prize for tonight’s draw stays at €17 million so if you want to be part of a jackpot-winning syndicate, you can join one online.