Birr family win 500000

The family from Birr have been playing Lotto together for seven years but they did something different this time – they bought their first EuroMillions ticket - and it earned them half a million euro.

The lucky syndicate of five were accompanied by extended family as they collected their €500,000 cheque at National Lottery offices today, and they told the fantastic story of how the Lotto-dedicated players made a change that led them to their fortune:

“We won a Scratch Card on Lotto two weeks ago. And on that we won €6. It was too little to divide up between the five of us, so I said, ‘let’s get a ticket for the EuroMillions’,” said one of the happy group, a Birr man, who won the prize with his aunt, uncle and two cousins.

“We bought a €6 Quick Pick on Friday, June 19 for that night’s draw. It was the first time we ever played EuroMillions. We couldn’t believe it when we won the top prize in the Plus draw,” he smiled. They bought their lucky ticket in Applegreen Brosna Service Station, Railway Road in Birr.

One of the group’s relations exclaimed: “They’ve been going around like headless chickens ever since they found out.”

EuroMillions Plus is an exclusive game available to EuroMillions players in Ireland. There have been 14 winners of the EuroMillions Plus €500,000 top prize so far in 2015 – totaling €7 million paid out in EuroMillons Plus top prizes alone this year to date.

Today’s lucky winners will split their prize equally, each taking home a nice even €100,000. They have decided to remain private.