EuroMillions Winners Reported to Be Dublin Bus Driver Syndicate
A group of 22 Dublin bus drivers are said to have become Ireland’s latest EuroMillions winners, sharing a €23.8 million windfall on Friday 1st July. The players, who would be the ninth ticket holders from the country to hit the jackpot in the game’s 12-year history, are yet to make contact with the Irish National Lottery and officials have not revealed details of where the winning slip was purchased.
Last week, the National Bus and Rail Union, which is reported to represent some of the drivers, was demanding a 30 percent pay rise for its members. However, with Friday’s EuroMillions haul, the group might not be as worried about the outcome of those negotiations as they otherwise would have been. Dermot O’Leary, general secretary of NBRU, told the press he didn’t know the identity of the men but said “It’s a good news story in fairness. Good luck to them.”
Rumours suggest a number of the winners are approaching retirement age and it is thought they work weekday split shifts out of the Broadstone garage to the north of the city, operating in the morning and evening rush hours. The Sunday World claims to have spoken to one of the winners, who told a reporter, “Yeah it was us alright. We haven’t all spoken to each other yet so I’m not even sure how much we will walk away with.”
If they do prove to be the owners of Friday’s winning ticket, they will each receive just over €1 million and will become the second Irish syndicate to hit the jackpot in the pan-European lottery this year. On Friday 29th January, an anonymous lottery group shared a €132.2 million top prize with a French ticket holder, taking home €66.1 million. The biggest Irish lottery win of all time came in 2005, when Limerick cleaner Dolores McNamara banked a EuroMillions prize worth €115.4 million.
The Irish Times reports that five of the 22 have turned up for work this morning, although there has still yet to be an official claim on the prize submitted to the Irish National Lottery. IrishLottery.com will update the story as and when an announcement is made as to the identity of the winners.
You can buy EuroMillions tickets for Tuesday’s €15 million draw online through the Tickets page or from authorised retailers across Ireland. Good luck!
4th July 2016
