A Dublin Bus syndicate are believed to be the winners of the latest Euromillions jackpot worth almost €24 million.
Twenty-two bus crew at the Broadstone garage in north Dublin are understood to have scooped the €23,845,060 prize in Friday night’s lottery draw.
All was quiet at the Broadstone garage on Sunday save for the odd Bus Éireann bus and workmen doing some overtime on a new extension.
The 22 drivers who found out on Friday evening that they were all going to be millionaires were nowhere in evidence. They work Monday to Friday and are due back on shift at 6am on Monday. They are known in the parlance as “Euro drivers”. They work a split shift covering rush hour between 6am and 10am and 4pm and 8pm.
One of the drivers told The Sunday World: "Yeah it was us alright. We haven't all spoken to each other yet so I'm not even sure how much we will walk away with."
One driver turning up for his shift in the adjacent Phibsboro garage on Sunday said: “We’re all in syndicates. They just happened to win. If I had won the lottery, would I be here?”
The 22 bus crew who scooped Friday jackpot will take home €1,083,866.36 each.
Only on Friday the National Bus and Rail Union, which represents many of the lottery winners, had put forward a 30 per cent pay claim for Dublin bus drivers.
It is unlikely the lottery winners will need that money now. Some reports suggest many of them are coming up to retirement age in any case.
NBRU general secretary Dermot O’Leary said he did not know who the men were yet, but congratulated them on their success. “It’s a good news story in fairness. Good luck to them.”
The National Lottery has so far declined to confirm even where the ticket was sold and say they will not know the identity of those involved until Monday at the earliest.
The winning numbers were 2, 11, 13, 40 and 50. The Lucky Stars numbers were 1 and 10.
It is not the first time the Euromillions jackpot has been won by a player from the Republic. A syndicate involving a group of friends won €66 million in January. They have chosen not to go public about their win. That winning ticket was sold in the Easons store in Fairgreen shopping centre in Carlow town. It was a €15 quick-pick winning ticket for the January 29th draw.
The twelfth highest jackpot in the competition's history was won by Dolores McNamara from Co Limerick when she took home €115, 436,126 in July 2005.
Other winners in Ireland have scooped the jackpot with wins of €94m, €29.4m and €15m.
EuroMillions is played in nine countries – Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.
