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Clifford’s Centra celebrate selling Ireland’s biggest ever EuroMillions jackpot. Mac Innes Photography

The €250m EuroMillions jackpot has been claimed - and the winning family are making travel plans

The winners have chosen to remain anonymous.

A FAMILY SYNDICATE has officially claimed their record-breaking EuroMillions prize of €250m.

The winners have chosen to remain anonymous. 

Sharing the story of their win anonymously with the National Lottery, the winners described the prize as “surreal”.

One family member had an appointment in Cork and stopped into Clifford’s Centra on Shandon Street, seeing the sign at the till about the EuroMillions jackpot being a quarter of billion euro.

“Although I’m a regular player, I hadn’t bought a ticket for the last two draws,” the person said. “I picked one up and honestly, didn’t think much of it.”

Watching the Nine O’Clock News, the person saw the announcement that someone had won the largest jackpot possible. 

“So naturally, I got my ticket and scanned it on the National Lottery app, and a message popped up, ‘You’ve won big, contact the National Lottery.’ Obviously, this wasn’t a message that I was used to seeing, so I must have checked it 4 more times, I just couldn’t believe my eyes!” the ticketholder said.

“I ran upstairs to my wife who had just gone to bed and woke her up. We both checked the numbers multiple times on the website. We sat at the edge of the bed, saying ‘Oh my god’ over and over – I reckon we said it about fifty times. We were in total shock, complete disbelief.

“As you can imagine, sleep was out of the question that night.”

The pair set an early alarm to call the National Lottery in the morning, and after reaching the Claims Team, they were informed that they were in fact the winners of the huge sum.

“Those few minutes felt like the longest of my life” the winner said. “When Ronan from the Claims Team confirmed we were the outright winner, needless to say, we were in total shock all over again.”

Until the winning ticket could be formally handed over, the family kept it carefully hidden, tucked inside an A4 sheet beneath a pile of folded laundry in the bedroom. 

Afterwards, they followed the advice and sought legal and financial guidance independently.

The syndicate’s first plan for a minuscule fraction of their newfound fortune is to take a family holiday. 

“We love to travel and there’s so many amazing trips we’ve always dreamed of that we can now make a reality. We’re already looking at holiday homes somewhere in the sun.

“We also feel incredibly fortunate now to be in a position where we can buy homes for our children too.”

The family also plans to support their wider family members including children, grandchildren, close friends, and several charities that are close to their hearts.

When asked by the National Lottery they had any “extravagant plans”, the family laughed and admitted they hadn’t anything outrageous in mind just yet.

One member of the syndicate said that they had always dreamed of owning a Rolex watch, although it would never have been a possibility.

“I went window shopping last week just to have a look and couldn’t believe the price tag of some of the watches. When I phoned my wife to tell her, she said ‘sure you can buy them now if you want’!”

Despite the life-changing sum, the family insists they’re staying grounded. “We’re planning to remain in Ireland, and we promised ourselves that we won’t let this win change us.”

Another said,  “I’ll still be having my favourite ham and cheese sambo for lunch every day!”

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    Mute Glen
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    Aug 15th 2014, 5:35 PM

    And they want to charge people for this sewer smelling fluoridated slop they call water ……

    140
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    Mute Bren O'Connell ت
    Favourite Bren O'Connell ت
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    Aug 15th 2014, 5:38 PM

    Ballygowan slop.

    46
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    Mute Antonov Merinov
    Favourite Antonov Merinov
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    Aug 15th 2014, 7:06 PM

    What is it with this country and it’s water supply❓
    I am glad that I have my own well.
    I would feel very aggrieved if I was asked to pay for this service.

    44
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    Mute Alison Te Hira Mee
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    Aug 16th 2014, 3:43 AM

    I’m not being facetious but wouldn’t the idea that once people are paying for the service, then the government can afford to pay for repairs and decent pipes etc? I live in Sydney and pay for water and I’ve no issue with that. Now if the water supply went to sh*it , i would then have an issue paying but if I wasn’t paying, why would I expect to get it for free? I know this won’t go down well but please someone explain why people expect to get water service for free??

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    Mute Joan Dolan
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    Aug 16th 2014, 9:26 AM

    I think the problem is though Alison, that this is another bill coming into people’s houses after a few years of reductions in people’s wages, people having lost their jobs, reduction in payments such as childrens allowance, social welfare payments and the introduction of property tax and people arent sure how much more they can take to survive. Also, we were told the property tax was going into our local area and would be used to benefit our area but we cant get so much as a zebra crossing or lollipop lady for our schools without being told by the council we would have to fund raise for it ourselves. In an ideal world, water rates revenue should pay for rusty pipes to be fixed and a better service but I guarantee you in 12, 24 or even 60 months time, warnings such as these will still be issued by the councils that the water is not adequate for consumption.

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    Mute FollowMe❤ #FreeMeers
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    Aug 16th 2014, 9:35 AM

    It’s not the paying for a service we have an issue with. It’s paying it to a private company who have a monopoly and therefore will charge us what they like. We are being forced into this, and the water supply is not up to scratch and they will not improve it. This is how they work here in Ireland. The government is no better at all- look at what they did to the M50 tolls. In essence, we are fed up of having less than no money when we pay high taxes already.

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    Mute Celticspirit321
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    Aug 15th 2014, 6:23 PM

    What the government hasn’t realised is that when people pay for a service and that service isn’t up to scratch, the 3 Rs come into play. Repair, replace or refund. If they keep dishing out piss, legally, we don’t have to pay a cent

    79
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    Mute Dublinjonny
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    Aug 15th 2014, 5:46 PM

    Don’t worry Co.Clare sure as soon as the water meters are in you can now have the luxury and benefit of paying for piss water

    66
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    Mute Alanearls
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    Aug 15th 2014, 7:04 PM

    My mum lives in Clare, she hasn’t been able to use tap water for years, they gave her a nice shiny new meter recently though, I wonder does it make the water that passes through it better quality

    44
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    Mute Fergal Kelly
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    Aug 15th 2014, 5:45 PM

    Hang on now, how exactly do they stop algal bloom?? It’s nature ffs

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    Mute Alan O'connor
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    Aug 15th 2014, 5:53 PM

    Jesus don’t introduce facts into an argument on the journal. You’ll be vilified forever!!!

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    Mute Mahon Slattery
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    Aug 15th 2014, 7:03 PM

    Algal blooms are usually caused by nutrient pollution by nitrogen, phosphates from agriculture, intensive animal farming fertilisers and household cleaning products. Climate change is also thought to encourage their progression. Not nature.

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    Mute David Geraghty
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    Aug 15th 2014, 10:32 PM

    Nature? As in farmers polluting de gaff nature?

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    Mute Kevin f
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    Aug 15th 2014, 8:18 PM

    All the summers as a child and teenager spent having fun on this lake…. Hours each day… Peeing in it all the time like everyone else……. I wonder has this led to the onset of this fungal problem????

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    Mute Adrian Beakey
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    Aug 15th 2014, 10:58 PM

    Played on the lake during my child hood and pissed in it as well.
    And the summers were better back then .
    With no bloom on the lake ???? None that we were told about anyway.
    I am still drinking the water because it did not kill us back then and it won’t kill us now.

    5
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    Mute Alan McLoughlin
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    Aug 16th 2014, 1:02 AM

    Corofin is my home town. It has only recently had the water filtration and treatment system upgraded/renewed. The issue lies with irresponsible farming practices, and I would ask anyone who spots a farmer spreading slurry during heavy rain to report this to the EPA immediately to prevent further algal bloom from appearing.

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    Mute Alan McLoughlin
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    Aug 16th 2014, 1:06 AM

    The regional office is based in Limerick and you can call them on:
    061-224764

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    Mute spuds mcgoo
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    Aug 15th 2014, 9:31 PM

    You can’t even shower with the stuff??? That’s just shocking

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    Mute Brian Troy
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    Aug 15th 2014, 11:25 PM

    What happened to the earlier article about floride costing each taxpayer a million Euro a week or some tripe. Where is the apology?

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    Mute pad mul
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    Aug 16th 2014, 12:09 AM

    tho has pretty much become an annual thing. every August, for as long as I can remember; these notices have been issued.

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    Mute Caroline aMarie
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    Aug 16th 2014, 6:14 PM

    Another way or having the water changes justified.BOO.

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    Mute Caroline aMarie
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    Aug 17th 2014, 9:30 PM

    Sorry typo.I meant water CHARGE.

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    Mute Brehon Law
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    Aug 16th 2014, 8:26 AM

    Same thing is happening in lakes in the US – check out GreenPartnerNews for more info if interested

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