Lotto syndicate plans to donate some of 'life-changing' €500k jackpot to local charities

There were two separate prizes of €500,000 collected from the National Lottery office in Dublin today.

A Limerick city syndicate made the trip to the capital to collect their €500,000 winnings from last Saturday's Lotto Plus 1 draw.

They bought their Normal Play ticket on the day of the draw at Ryan’s Centra on O’Connell Street in Limerick.

Six days after their win, their spokeperson said they had to take some time out to properly digest the news.

He said: "We’ve been doing the same Lotto numbers for almost 30 years so as soon as I saw the Lotto results in the Sunday paper, I knew we had a winner.

"There was absolute pandemonium at first but we’ve had almost a week to think about it rationally and we have been working with a financial planner who is helping us to make some life-changing decisions for our family and for those around us."

He explained the arrangements they have been making for the last few days.

He said: "We made arrangements to clear our mortgages and put money aside for our children’s futures. We are very proud Limerick people and we have made the decision to help some amazing charities in the city who are often taken for granted.

"Once the dust settles, we will be making anonymous donations to Focus Ireland (Limerick), the Limerick Rape Crisis Centre and Enable Ireland (Limerick).

"We love our city and we are just so happy that we are now in a position to make some real changes to the lives of others."

Meanwhile, another lucky online player has claimed the €500,000 EuroMillions Plus prize from Friday May 26.