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After nine days of lying low and trying to keep their good fortune to themselves, the winning syndicate have come forward to claim the EuroMillions jackpot of €38.9 million.
The small family syndicate, who live in north county Dublin, presented themselves in the National Lottery headquarters on Monday to pick up their winnings.
They have known about their good fortune since last Saturday week December 30th, but decided to seek legal and financial advice before proceeding.
The family members have decided to keep their identity secret, but they did issue a statement describing their massive win as “life changing”.
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The ecstatic family said the last week has been a blur and they are slowly coming to terms with their massive good fortune which means none of them will have to worry about another bill or work a day in their life again if they choose not to so.
They are also planning holidays in the Bahamas or the Maldives later in the year.
A spokesperson for the small group said: “It is amazing to think that we and our family members are now secure for the rest of our lives. But we won’t go crazy. We have no plans to move to the moon!”
Syndicate
The syndicate bought the winning quick pick EuroMillions jackpot ticket on the date of the draw, Friday December 29th, at The Village Shop in Malahide shopping centre.
“I play EuroMillions regularly and I checked my ticket as normal in a shop the morning after the draw,” a family member said. “A message came up to contact the National Lottery. I knew then we had won. I was dizzy.”
He said he went home and shared the news with family members. “We stayed in all day. There were lots of emotions. We kept looking at each other laughing and crying. You always hope that someday you would win a jackpot, but never really believe it will happen.
“For us our dreams have come true. We had a friend staying and we broke the news to him on Sunday. He said he could not believe he was sleeping under the same roof as people who had won almost €39 million!
“We watched the TV coverage from the winning shop in Malahide on Thursday and some of the media videos taken in the shop. And we kept saying: ‘This is us!’”
New house
He said the plan is to continue with life as normal as possible. “We haven’t had much sleep in the last week. We will take our time before we make any big changes. We would like to start our own business and maybe look at buying a new house later this year.
“ What is great is that we can look after family and help make their lives easier also. That will give us great pleasure.”
The winning ticket was sold in a shop owned by Chinese couple Ken and Amy Cong.
They won €25,000 for themselves for having the good fortune to sell the winning ticket.
She described the experience of being informed on Wednesday that she was the seller of the winning ticket as “unreal” and “shocking”.
“People in Malahide know us already. For people visiting Malahide, we are definitely one of the shops you should be visiting,” she said.
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