A FAMILY SYNDICATE has officially claimed their record-breaking EuroMillions prize of €250m.

The winners have chosen to remain anonymous. 

Sharing the story of their win anonymously with the National Lottery, the winners described the prize as “surreal”.

One family member had an appointment in Cork and stopped into Clifford’s Centra on Shandon Street, seeing the sign at the till about the EuroMillions jackpot being a quarter of billion euro.

“Although I’m a regular player, I hadn’t bought a ticket for the last two draws,” the person said. “I picked one up and honestly, didn’t think much of it.”

Watching the Nine O’Clock News, the person saw the announcement that someone had won the largest jackpot possible. 

“So naturally, I got my ticket and scanned it on the National Lottery app, and a message popped up, ‘You’ve won big, contact the National Lottery.’ Obviously, this wasn’t a message that I was used to seeing, so I must have checked it 4 more times, I just couldn’t believe my eyes!” the ticketholder said.

“I ran upstairs to my wife who had just gone to bed and woke her up. We both checked the numbers multiple times on the website. We sat at the edge of the bed, saying ‘Oh my god’ over and over – I reckon we said it about fifty times. We were in total shock, complete disbelief.

“As you can imagine, sleep was out of the question that night.”

The pair set an early alarm to call the National Lottery in the morning, and after reaching the Claims Team, they were informed that they were in fact the winners of the huge sum.

“Those few minutes felt like the longest of my life” the winner said. “When Ronan from the Claims Team confirmed we were the outright winner, needless to say, we were in total shock all over again.”

Until the winning ticket could be formally handed over, the family kept it carefully hidden, tucked inside an A4 sheet beneath a pile of folded laundry in the bedroom. 

Afterwards, they followed the advice and sought legal and financial guidance independently.

The syndicate’s first plan for a minuscule fraction of their newfound fortune is to take a family holiday. 

“We love to travel and there’s so many amazing trips we’ve always dreamed of that we can now make a reality. We’re already looking at holiday homes somewhere in the sun.

“We also feel incredibly fortunate now to be in a position where we can buy homes for our children too.”

The family also plans to support their wider family members including children, grandchildren, close friends, and several charities that are close to their hearts.

When asked by the National Lottery they had any “extravagant plans”, the family laughed and admitted they hadn’t anything outrageous in mind just yet.

One member of the syndicate said that they had always dreamed of owning a Rolex watch, although it would never have been a possibility.

“I went window shopping last week just to have a look and couldn’t believe the price tag of some of the watches. When I phoned my wife to tell her, she said ‘sure you can buy them now if you want’!”

Despite the life-changing sum, the family insists they’re staying grounded. “We’re planning to remain in Ireland, and we promised ourselves that we won’t let this win change us.”

Another said,  “I’ll still be having my favourite ham and cheese sambo for lunch every day!”