Bere Island syndicate collects €500,000 EuroMillions prize
A syndicate from a small island off the coast of Cork has collected its €500,000 EuroMillions prize at the National Lottery offices in Dublin today.
Seven days after the 180 residents of Bere Island were thrust into the spotlight when the winning ticket was drawn for the EuroMillions Plus prize, the search is now over for the winners.
The winning Quick Pick ticket was sold at the island’s post office ahead of the draw on Tuesday, September 19, and the islanders have been talking about nothing else since they found out.
Brendan Murphy is the island's postman, who also runs the ferry, and after wondering who the winners were, he speculated on what they would do with the winnings.
He said: "It's great to see the post office being kept and it's a great boost to the place now as well.
"It livens the place and will shorten the winter for us all. Hopefully the winner will spend a lot of it around the island."
After the small island syndicate finally made the long trip to Dublin, they said: "It’s been an absolutely crazy week."
While the group wish to keep their win private, they admitted that it is probably the worst kept secret among their neighbours on the island.
They said: "We’ve timed this perfectly as we hear there's a television crew from SKY on the island looking for us this morning.
"We could never have expected the huge reaction that our beautiful little island has received all across the world just because of our EuroMillions win.
"We are extremely grateful for all of the support we have received in the past few days and we are planning a big celebration for the entire island once the dust settles. We have a wonderful community spirit on the island and our win will allow us to make some very positive changes there in the coming months."
