Gran prix for family as woman shares in jackpot win

IT was a leisurely affair when Co Waterford grandmother Mary Curran took her entire family to Dublin yesterday.

After waiting 10 years for her Lotto numbers to come up, she didn’t feel like rushing things when she scooped €627,756 in last Wednesday’s draw.

“I waited a few days to gather the family together and we hired a minibus to come to Dublin and have a great day out collecting our prize,” said Mary.

Four-month-old Jack, her youngest grandchild, was the only member of the family to stay at home.

Accompanying Mary were her four children, their partners and six grandchildren. Mrs Curran held one of the five winning tickets for the €3,138,779 jackpot.

She bought the ticket at Tesco shopping centre in Youghal, Co Cork.

After collecting her cheque at National Lottery headquarters, Mary gave no inkling of what she would do with her new-found wealth. “I have no immediate plans,” she said.

Mary’s daughter Siobhán broke the news to her mother. “I was watching the draw and, as I know my mother’s numbers by heart, I knew instantly she had won. She was in town at the time, so I drove in straight away to give her the good news,” she said.

Bridie, another daughter, felt they would take it easy on the trip home.

“I think we will be having a couple of stops on the way home,” she laughed.

The winning numbers were 1, 5, 11, 17, 29 and 36. The bonus was 35.