School is most certainly out for a Donegal school syndicate who scooped €250,000 between them in the National Lotto recently.
The syndicate of 18 picked up their cheque at lotto headquarters in Dublin after winning the Lotto Plus 2 top prize on Saturday 27th May
The Craigtown syndicate, made up of 18 teachers and school staff, scooped their top prize win after purchasing their winning ticket at Doherty’s Centra in Moville.
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 continued that purchasing the ticket still did not go exactly to plan, even after making the journey.
She added “I usually buy a ticket to cover 8 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!”
Meanwhile, the Craigtown syndicate were not the only Donegal winners to visit Lotto HQ to claim their winnings.
A family syndicate claimed over €6.3 million after purchasing their winning ticket for the 17th June draw at McCarrons Village Shop at Quigley’s Point.
The Donegal jackpot winners shared the €12,747,756 jackpot with a Westmeath man who also claimed his share of the life-changing amount.
