Family syndicate comes forward to claim €250m EuroMillions jackpot

The family syndicate, who won the largest jackpot in Irish history, have officially claimed their prize and walked away with the big cheque.

The winners have chosen to remain anonymous and described their journey as "surreal".

One of the family members insisted it wouldn’t change them, saying: “I'll still be having my favourite ham and cheese sambo for lunch every day."

The gigantic win all began with a simple errand when one family member had an appointment in Cork city and stopped into Clifford's Centra on Shandon Street to pick up a few messages.

“I saw the sign at the till that the EuroMillions jackpot was €250 million," the family member said. “Although I’m a regular player, I hadn’t bought a ticket for the last two draws. I picked one up and, honestly, didn’t think much of it.

“I was watching the Nine O’Clock News and saw that someone in Ireland had the winning EuroMillions ticket. 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 four more times, I just couldn't believe my eyes.”

The man ran upstairs to his wife, who had just gone to bed, to wake her up and share the news.

"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 50 times. We were in total shock, complete disbelief,” the man said.

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

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The couple set an alarm for early the following morning to call the National Lottery. After getting through to the claims team and a few tense minutes on hold, it was confirmed they were officially the winners of €250 million.

“Those few minutes felt like the longest of my life," one of the winners said. “When Ronan from the claims team confirmed we were the outright winner, needless to say, we were in total shock all over again," they added.

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

For the next few days, they took their time to come to terms with the life-changing news. Having tried not to let it overwhelm them, they carried on with their daily routines as much as possible.

Once the winning ticket was in the hands of the National Lottery, the family sought independent legal and financial advice.

The winners said the first thing they planned to do with their new fortune was to go on 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,” one of the family said.

"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 whether they had any extravagant plans, they laughed and said: “I always dreamed of owning a Rolex watch, knowing that I could never afford it."

"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’. I don’t think the news has really sunk in yet," he said.

Despite the life-changing fortune, the family said they were staying grounded.

“We’re planning to remain in Ireland, and we promised ourselves that we won’t let this win change us," one family member said.