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FOR THE FIRST time in decades, the weekly National Lottery draw had to be postponed last week.
Panic ensued across the nation, naturally.
Given the extra a day, a few more people were likely to have chanced their luck, but it was won by one happy player in Kildare.
However, you might not feel so jealous after reading some of these stories:
Before they won a $2.76m (€2.42m) lottery jackpot in 2005, Lara and Roger Griffiths hardly ever argued.
Then they won, and bought a million-dollar house and a Porsche.But six years after their win, Roger drove away in the Porsche after Lara confronted him over emails suggesting he was interested in another woman.
Their 14-year marriage was over, a freak fire gutted their house, and every penny of their fortune was gone.
William “Bud” Post won $16.2 million in the Pennsylvania lottery in 1988 but was $1 million in debt within a year.
“I wish it never happened,” Post said. “It was totally a nightmare.”
A former girlfriend successfully sued him for a share of his winnings and his brother was arrested for hiring a hit man to kill him in the hopes he’d inherit a share of the winnings.
After sinking money into various family businesses, Post sank into debt and spent time in jail for firing a gun over the head of a bill collector.
Bud now lives quietly on $450 (€400) a month and food stamps.
Martyn Tott, 33, and his 24-year-old wife from the UK missed out on the fortune after losing their ticket.
They were able to convince officials, but since there is a 30-day time limit on reporting lost tickets, the jackpot became the the largest unclaimed amount since the lottery began in 1994.
“Thinking you’re going to have all that money is really liberating. Having it taken away has the opposite effect,” Kay Tott told The Daily Mail. “It drains the life from you and puts a terrible strain on your marriage. It was the cruelest torture imaginable.”
In 2004, Sharon Tirabassi, a single mother who had been on welfare, cashed a check from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. for $10.5m (Canadian, €7.4m)).
She subsequently spent her winnings on a “big house, fancy cars, designer clothes, lavish parties, exotic trips, handouts to family, loans to friends” and in less than a decade she’s back riding the bus, working part-time, and living in a rented house.”
Luckily Tirabassi put some of her windfall in trusts for her six children, who can claim the money when they turn 26.
Against all odds, in the mid-1980s, Adams won the lottery twice, once in 1985 and again in 1986.
The New Jersey native won a cool $5.4m (€4.7m), but AskMen.com reports she gambled it away at Atlantic City.
Today she resides in a trailer park
A former Waffle House waitress named Tonda Lynn Dickerson got served a big plate of karma when she refused to split her winnings with ex-colleagues and was forced to pay the tax man $1.1 million (€970,000).
How did it happen? Dickerson placed her winnings in a corporation and granted her family 51 percent of the stock — qualifying her for the tax.
In 1998, Gerald Muswagon won the $10m (€8.8m) Super 7 jackpot in Canada.
But he blew it all on drinking and partying in only seven years.
Filled with remorse, Muswagon hanged himself in his parents’ garage in 2005.
Construction worker Americo Lopes won the New Jersey lottery, quit his job, and then lied about it, claiming he needed foot surgery.
After coming clean to an ex-colleague, he and a few others ganged up on Lopes for not splitting the winnings as promised.
The court ordered Lopes to split the prize.
When Mullins won the US lotto in 1993, she opted for yearly payouts instead of a lump sum, reports MSN.
She quickly found herself in debt, using future payouts as collateral for a $200,000 (€175,000) loan.
Mullins later switched to a lump sum payout, but never paid back the debt. The loan company filed suit and won a $154,000 (€135,000) settlement that was all but worthless — Mullins had no assets.
Ontario resident Ibi Roncailoli walked away with $5m (€4.4m) in a 1991 Lotto 649 drawing, but she didn’t tell her husband how she decided to spend it.
When Joseph Roncailoli, a gynecologist, found out Ibi gave $2m (€1.76m) of her fortune to a secret child she’d had with another man, he poisoned her with painkillers, the Toronto Star reports.
He was found guilty of manslaughter and reportedly asked Ibi’s family to help foot the bill for her funeral.
Michael Carroll was at his peak when he won Britain’s £9.7m (€13.1m)) jackpot in 2002, The Daily Mail reports.
But a penchant for life in the fast lane — cocaine, parties, hookers, and cars — put him back at square one in five years.
Last we heard, the ex-garbageman was hoping to get his old job back.
A Pentecostal preacher working as a stockboy at Home Depot got his prayers answered when he hit the $31m (€27.2m) jackpot in 1997.
At first, life was good with Billy Bob buying a ranch, six other homes, and some new cars.
But like many others who win the lottery, he just couldn’t say no when people asked for a handout.
Later in life he divorced and eventually committed suicide.
In 2002, West Virginia building contractor Andrew Jackson Whittaker Jr. walked away with $114m (€100m) on a multi-state Powerball draw.
That was just about his last stroke of good fortune.
In two separate instances, thieves ran off with $745,000 Whittaker stashed in his car. Later on, he was sued by Caesar’s Atlantic City for allegedly bouncing $1.5 million in checks.
Within four years, his fortune was gone.
In 1989, Willie won a $3.1m (€2.7m) jackpot in the Michigan Lottery.
Fast-forward two years later and Hurt got divorced, lost custody of his children, was charged with attempted murder, and picked up a crack-cocaine addiction.
The habit was so bad, it sucked away his entire fortune.
When Denise Rossi won $1.3m (€1.1m) in the California lotto, she left her husband without a word, reports People magazine.
Thomas knew something was up, but agreed to divorce her anyway.
Two years later, he intercepted a letter at his new Los Angeles home revealing the truth.
He sued Denise for not disclosing her winnings in the divorce, and the judge awarded Thomas every cent.
After winning an $18m (€16.6m) lottery jackpot in 1993, Janite Lee’s earnings were gone within a decade.
The St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that Lee, a wigmaker from South Korea, blew her winnings on, of all things, charity.
A reading room was named after her at Washington University’s law school, and she was a major donor for the Democratic Party.
But her giving hand, coupled with a little gambling and a lot of credit card debt, allegedly did her in. She filed for bankruptcy in 2001.
Welsh-born Luke Pittard won a £1.3 million jackpot (€1.7 million) in 2006, but spent it all on a trip to the Canary Islands, a wedding, and a house.
A year-and-a-half later, Pittard was forced to take a job at McDonald’s flipping burgers.
He says he’s happy, and his leftover winnings collect interest.
Alex and Rhoda Toth hit the $13m (€11.4m) jackpot in Florida in 1990. Within 15 years they were destitute.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the couple declared bankruptcy and were eventually accused of tax evasion by the IRS.
Alex passed away before his case went to trial and Rhoda eventually served two years in prison.
Daily Mail UK reports Vivian Nicholson got a taste of the good life when she won a fortune — £152k (€205k) — in Britain’s football pools in 1961.
Too bad she blew it all filling her closet with haute couture.
Years later, Nicholson is jobless, a newly-minted Jehovah’s Witness and a widow. She’s also been married five times.
Callie Rogers was just 16 years old when she won £1.9 million in the U.K.’s lottery (€2.6m) in 2003 — too young to know how to manage her money or where it would lead her, according to Gawker.
Rogers had two children then blew the rest on partying, vacations, and gifts for her friends.
Now Rogers works as a cleaning woman and is reportedly facing bankruptcy.
Barry Shell won $4m (€3.5m) Canadian dollars in the Ontario lottery in 2009 after he used the last of his cash to buy a ticket.
But there was a warrant out for his arrest on charges of theft and possessing stolen property, and police figured out where he was after seeing a photo of him with his prize.
He gave his winnings to a relative.
- Michael B Kelly, Pamela Engel, and Mandi Woodruff
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They were reported on enough in the likes of Europe, Australia and Asia where people actually give a toss about global events. There’s little appetite for global news in the US as it confuses too many people who are unaware that places exist outside America.
@The Guru: I’d love the see the size list of under-reported multiple victim shootings in the U.S from last year.
That old chestnut… Americans with mental health issues is very different from a group pathologically disposed to subterfuge and altering your way of life, and now bedding itself in within Europe.. Wakey Wakey..
Martin, would you not say they also have mental health issues? France has the highest Muslim population in Europe, most families moved to France in the 60′s. The first mosque in arms was built in 1922 and guess what? There are still less that 10 million Muslims in France. Muslims in Europe is not new. Stop pretending it is.
*Paris
@Dave O Keeffe: Muslims and jews have been in Europe since the time of the crusades.
Exactly, and the country with the most Muslims they still only make up about 7% of the population (as its illegal to record religion in census in France I have used the highest reliable estimate I found, which is also coincidentally the average of all numbers I found when including the not so reliable estates)
@Martin Critten: And yet despite being so concerned for the safety of the people he’s dismantling legislation to stop mentally ill people from purchasing guns
I’m just glad that when the trump admin released their list of underreported terrorist events they included the bowling green massacre. For too long they have conspired to keep that quiet and it honours all those who lost their lives. Including me.
@Tony Canning: You lost your life in the bowling green massacre too? Maybe we should create a club?
Nevar ferget.
@Dave O Keeffe: The Muslims were in Spain hundreds of years ago. They were kicked out and still complain about it. Muslims tend to like warm dry climates for some reason
Would love just one day, where this fool isn’t in the news.
Only 1445 days to go
What a stupid list by the White House. Loads of attacks on their list received massive attention. Such as the Brussels airport attack last year.
And they did not even go to the bother to say when the attack in Kuwait happened.
I think he’s referring to the fake news websites he uses for his news
@Boganity: You have to wonder if that’s the ‘yard stick’ the President of America, the so called most powerful man in the world, has reduced measuring terrorism to, not the opinion of any one of his 17 intelligence agencies, but whether they recieved “adequate attention from Western media sources”. You couldn’t make this up, you really couldn’t.
I know and making it even worse is the list released by his staff to back up his claims, the incidents listed where massively reported worldwide so how he knows nothing about them is a real concern
@Ace: Good job Ireland isn’t on the list then…..
Under reporting ☺
Glad that doesn’t happen with RTE and the independent ☺
Unless it’s Sinn Fein, then they’ll both go to town with the negative reporting.
I’m glad it does happen anywhere accept in his head
Kenny should present him with a bowl of sawdust to represent what’s actually between his ears
@Boganity: This is interesting.
We need to halt the Muslim advance
This from the man who MADE UP “The Bowling Green massacre”.
In fairness I’m sure it was Kelly ann Conway who mentioned that
@Fear Uisce: Ah, but is it on the list, did it recieve adequate attention?
@Fear Uisce: If the press aren’t reporting enough terrorism, to justify your xenophobia, simply make some up. “I’m not happy with the amount of terrorist events being reported. Get out there Kellyann and give the press some alternative facts.” She’s just his mouthpiece. He’s the lying xenophobe.
He accused the media of not reporting on terrorist incidences without giving any examples. He’s being ridiculous.
He did, 78 examples to be precise.
They were all reported on though.
That list was produced later to make Trump look less stupid. Those 78 cases were “underreported”. That just means they weren’t on the front page of newspapers.
@Jason Culligan: One of those examples that the dope gave is Philadelphia.When was that declared as a ‘terrorist’ attack ?
Jason, on the list is Paris France Sept 2015, how was that under reported? It’s time you stopped trying to justify everything Trump says no matter how ill informed or stupid.
The Orlando nightclub shooting is on the list. That was extensively covered
@Dave O Keeffe: Jason is stuck in Trump’s arse, he is fed on Trump’s sh*t, and believes everything the big orange says, cut him some slack, he’s intelectually challenged enough, as it is.
Is the Dylan rooff shooting included or is that outside the timespan/ethnicity of the perpetrator????
Larissa I’ve never agreed much with Jason, but I always found him well informed on topics, but definitely his mask is slipping lately. Even he can’t defend the indefensible, I suppose.
trump would give his left ball for a new bin laden video.
Expect a “Reichstag” I’d say…
Trump is aching for his own 9/11 moment, when he can join his people together for the last holy war. Trumps triumph will herald the end of the empire
Sure there were some attacks in Israel and other places as well. Don’t see them on the list either.
The Donald Duck Cabinet is underreporting on terrorism.
It’s Called minimising the desired effect of terror, I look forward to the day I don’t see his ugly mutt plastered all over every newsfeed.
This is the work of Bannon, a hideous creature lurking in the background with his own twisted agenda.
You mean Baldrick the Blackadder character
This is the refugee vetting process that Bannon finds wayyyyy too lax :
They’re absolutely right. The media never reports on attacks in middle eastern countries.
It’s the new Donald and Mickey show
Unfortunately that’s because no one in this part is interested in or cares about what happens to people in the Middle East, if we did we wouldn’t have a refugee crisis
The Journal fails to mention that during Trumps rant in Tampa, he singled out Europe for unreported terrorist attacks.
@Chris Kirk: I know, it’s such a missed opportunity to point out yet another example of “Alternative Facts” from Trump
He is an idiot. One of his reports of terrorism was a friend of mine family member who was killed by a person with mental illness. Was never reported as a terrorist attack. The day he is forced out of office will be a day the rest of the world will celebrate.
New polls show what corrupt media agenda wants to say – as usual……should be the headline.
As proven during election and brexit etc…..these polls do not reflect the opinions they say they do – and are often doctored and manipulated – and simply wrong.
When is the media going to realise that their polls do not drive public opinion, it is the other way around, and if the ask the wrong questions from unrepresentative samples they get the wrong answers
Is it just me, or is Trump looking more and more like Boris Yeltsin ???
Nut Jobs the pair of them !!
@Gerald Duffy: That’s an insult to Boris
It is an interesting argument that ‘non-US citizens entering the country for the first time have no constitutional rights’. So when do the constitutional rights take effect? After immigration control? When you leave the airport? When you cross a state border?
And what happens before you get the constitutional rights? Can you be subjected to torture at the airport? Arbitrarily detained? Subjected to ‘cruel and degrading’ punishments?
The argument that the injunction is too wide in being nation-wide is also strange. The President’s executive order had nationwide effect. Was the Federal judge to stay it in Seattle only? Could a citizen of one of the 7 countries enter the USA at Seattle but not San Francisco?
I know nothing about American constitutional law but common sense suggsts that these arguments are so weak that they cannot succeed. If these are the Department of Justices best arguments they are in trouble. We will know tomorrow morning.
@Patrick Brompton: The key word in your comment is ‘common sense’, something that’s sadly missing in the Trump administration
I fail to see the point of this list. In the full list the nationalities of the known attackers is included. The American attacks? Performed by Americans. Most of the attacks were carried out by citizens of the country they occurred in. More Americans die in mass shootings carried out by white people. Surely the goal is to save as many lives as possible. Radicalisation happens online not at an airport.
**Breaking News**
Donald Trump does own a bathrobe.
(Updates to follow)
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