Last-minute dash to shops pays off for Lotto syndicate

The happiest gang of workers in the country were drinking champagne in the National Lottery headquarters yesterday.

The group, from Chadwicks Builders Centre, Thomas St, Dublin, were collecting their €3m Lotto jackpot.

Some of the workers, members of a 21-member syndicate, had been playing Lotto together for more than 14 years.

Several members of the Chadwicks syndicate collected their share of the win — over €140,000.

It was business as usual for some of the members who remained working at the centre, while others were on holidays.

The winning ticket was purchased by the builder centre’s foreman, Dave Hanley, in a nearby shop.

Dave, who lives The Liberties in Dublin city centre with his wife and 12-year-old son, said it felt great to have hit the jackpot.

However, he revealed a series of coincidences meant that the group nearly missed out.

Firstly, the man who normally marked the ticket docket was on holidays, so at the last minute Dave collected the money for the draw and went to the local Centra, where he filled out a slip.

When he realised he had €60 change from the kitty, he went back and bought a Quick Pick with it. This afterthought turned out to be a stroke of luck because it bore the winning numbers.

Dave turned up for work as usual on Monday. However, his boss, who met him at the gate, urged him to get the tickets checked.

“The chap in the shop checked the tickets,” said Dave. “He was a few minutes — it seemed longer, and then he just looked at me and gave me the thumbs up.

“The lads at work had heard that the Lotto jackpot had been won and they were all at the gate waiting for me when I got back.

“It was just surreal. We didn’t know what to do so we just started hugging each other. It was unbelievable.”

Asked how the money would be spent, Dave said that it would be a big help in meeting mortgage repayments and repaying credit union loans.

He said it was the syndicate’s second win — members of the group each got €500 each a few years ago.

Dave, who has worked with Chadwicks for 10 years, said his son was starting secondary school this year and, with the extra expense involved, the family hadn’t had the money for a holiday.

“Now we have so it will be somewhere really nice,” he said.

However, he has no intention of swapping his bike for a flashy car.

“We really are just normal people with a few bob extra now.

“None of us can afford to sail into the sunset. We all have to carry on working. We’re glad to have jobs because the country is in bits.”