12-strong Lotto syndicate from Bausch & Lomb collect €2.5m winnings
A 12-member Lotto syndicate from the Bausch & Lomb plant in Waterford has collected a cheque for more than €2.5m at National Lottery headquarters this afternoon.
The group has played together for almost 16 years and has always used the same numbers.
They won the jackpot with an €8 ticket bought at the Spar store in Ferrybank in Waterford on Saturday.
The group members' plans for the €2,578,134 win include paying off mortgages, going on holiday and buying new cars.
The syndicate group, calling themselves ‘The RPIII Heads’, also won €1,300 between them on a five number prize a while ago.
Group organiser, Alan Smith, who checked the ticket numbers on Saturday night at 10.45pm, said: "I scanned the ticket, as I do every week, and a message flashed up ‘Congratulations – please contact us!’ I was delighted but didn’t expect that we’d won the whole Lotto jackpot.
"I checked it a couple of times but refused to believe it. I rang the wife who had been up at a hurling match and I asked ‘Where are ya? Get home fast, we’re after winning the Lotto!' Then I started ringing the other lads in the group."
Two members of the group – John Walsh and Louise Power – are individually engaged to be married, but no date has yet been set. The 12 group members have 16 children altogether, with another on the way shortly.
