Syndicate claims €250k Lotto prize as winners of €12m jackpot also come forward

A SYNDICATE made up of teachers and school staff made the trip to Lotto Headquarters this Monday to claim their €250,000 prize which they won in Lotto Plus 2 draw at the end of May.

The 18 members of the group - The Craigtown syndicate -  scooped their top prize win in the May 27 draw after purchasing their winning ticket at Doherty’s Centra in Moville, County Donegal.

Speaking in the Winners' Room, Syndicate Manager Margaret Farren explained that buying the ticket for that particular draw was not as straight forward as usual.

“I was holidaying on the North Antrim coast when I realised that I didn’t have a ticket for the draw that night. I figured that I would get our ticket at some point during the day but as we got closer to the draw time, I was getting worried as I needed to get back to Donegal to get it. By then, it was becoming a mad dash to find the best way back. As luck would have it, the ferry had just started running again the previous day so I got that back to Greencastle and then made my way to Moville to get our ticket. I only had 15 minutes left to get our ticket at that stage,” she said.

Margaret added that purchasing the ticket still did not go exactly to plan, even after making the journey: “I usually buy a ticket to cover eight draws but when I got to the shop, the machine was unable to print a ticket for that particular draw only. I would only ever check our tickets after the 8 draws are up but since the ticket was a single draw, I checked the next day and to say it was utter disbelief would be an understatement! If it had have been a ticket for 8 draws, there’s no way I would have known how much we won so soon after. I told the rest of the members the next day after school – they couldn’t believe it when the app said the words ‘You’ve won Big!’ I think our cheers were heard far and wide!”

Members of the Craigtown syndicate were not the only Donegal winners to visit Lotto HQ in Dublin this Monday.

A family syndicate claimed over €6.3 million after purchasing their winning ticket for the June 17 draw at McCarrons Village Shop at Quigley’s Point.

The Donegal jackpot winners, who wish to remain anonymous, shared the €12,747,756 jackpot with a Westmeath man who also claimed his share of the life-changing amount.