The Dublin family who won the life-changing Euromillions jackpot of €175 million has now collected their winnings from the National Lottery.
They’ve also given their first and only interview since their massive win and shed some light on how they plan on spending it.
Family spokesperson Gerry Browne, who’s the husband of one of the siblings that was part of the winning syndicate, said they intend on splitting it 49 ways with their extended family and hope to continue living a relatively normal life.
He said, “This is life-changing for all of the family and we are absolutely thrilled. We have spent the last week getting independent legal and financial advice, and our win is slowly sinking in.
“We are a very close family, and this is a dream come true for us. We want this win to change our lives in a positive way.”
Gerry Brown – Winning #EuroMillions syndicate spokesperson thanks his friends and neighbours in the Naul, North Co Dublin for their support, well-wishes and privacy since their win pic.twitter.com/RSpjmf35A9
— The Irish National Lottery (@NationalLottery) March 1, 2019
The family agreed to do one interview with RTÉ Radio One and have appealed for privacy in future.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today With Sean O’Rourke, Gerry explained, “I was happy enough before I won it, I don’t want it to change my life too much.
“If I had won it 30 years ago, it might be different. The best thing of the whole lot is what you can do for other people. Now we’ll be able to look after the kids and grandkids.”
And since he’s an avid cyclist, he said one of the first things he’s hoping to buy is a new top of the range bike costing in the region of €14,000 to €15,000.
He said, “I’ll probably buy one of the best bikes you can buy, I’m mad into cycling.”
Gerry also revealed that on the night they won, his wife recognised three of the winning numbers but had to wait a full 10 minutes to get online and check them since the site went down due to the huge number of Irish people checking.
He joked, “I had six vodkas so I slept pretty alright. I was glad when all the hype was over.”
You can listen to the full interview here: