Now you've won it, now you haven't. That was the case, it seemed, yesterday for a 29-member Lotto syndicate.
Though the members - all staff at the Irish League of Credit Unions head office in Dublin - have eventually come out winners, of €606,000 (£478,000), a Dublin branch of Bank of Ireland is now engaged in a frantic search for their winning ticket.
Having lost the syndicate's winning ticket - from the St Stephen's Day draw - that two members of the syndicate had lodged there last Friday, the bank yesterday afternoon agreed to pay the money from its own funds. Last night, Mr Ciará Bishop, business manager with the ILCU, was doing most of the talking for the syndicate which had settled in to reflect on the day's events at Scruffy Murphy's pub, near Lotto HQ, in Dublin.
The syndicate was formed "about 10 or 12 years ago," he said.
"We knew we had won by New Year's Eve, but seeing as some people were still away we decided to lodge the ticket for safe-keeping at Bank of Ireland in Baggot Street," he said . The syndicate won a third share of the €1,904,607 (£1.5 million) jackpot. "So it was lodged there in a safety deposit box on Friday. We photocopied it, some of us signed it, we put it in an envelope and got a receipt for it."
Yesterday afternoon some 27 of the syndicate arrived at Lotto HQ in Dublin to await the arrival of the ticket which "two senior members of the syndicate" had gone to collect.
However, some four hours of searching at the Baggot Street branch of the bank failed to unearth the coveted slip of paper.
"We got word at the Lotto that there was a problem and we were there until about 4 o'clock," said Mr Bishop. "Well it ruined the day. We didn't know if we were at a wedding or a wake. But we're recovering now," he said with a laugh.
While most of the syndicate had been somewhat forlornly drinking champagne at Lotto HQ, the Bank of Ireland agreed, after a four hour search, to honour the value of the ticket itself.
Bank of Ireland group public affairs manager, Mr David Holden, said it was "the honourable thing to do", explaining the bank was confident the ticket would be found and adding that the syndicate had assured staff they would not seek possession of the ticket if and when it was found.
"The day the envelope was lodged was the day of the euro changeover. To say the bank was very busy would be an understatement.
"But I would stress mislaying something is a huge rarity." The National Lottery said the matter was "between the syndicate and Bank of Ireland" adding that it would be making no payment until an approach was made by someone bearing the winning ticket.
Asked about his view of the day's events, Mr Bishop supped his pint and said: "It just shows, you can only trust your credit union." This week's mishap follows a dispute last month over the ownership of winning lotto ticket in Co Kildare.
The two couples at the centre of the disagreement eventually agreed to settle for half of the £1.65 million jackpot following a lengthy legal wrangle.
Mr George and Mrs Patricia Murray from Naas said they had mistakenly received a quick pick ticket selecting the winning numbers.
The winning were split with Mr Thomas and Mrs Mary Cullen from Ballinafagh, Prosperous, Co Kildare, who had possession of the ticket.
