A LARGE family syndicate from The Naul who emerged as winners of the €175m EuroMillions jackpot last week have spoken out in their first official interview.

Last week, one of the north Dublin syndicate members explained how they realised their good fortune when she checked the winning ticket after last night’s draw.

The family of seven siblings have kept a low profile over the past week, but collected their winnings at the National Lottery offices in Abbey Street, Dublin yesterday.

Speaking this morning after they collected their massive cheque, a family spokesperson for the syndicate said: “It feels pretty good so far, it’s been a fairly hectic week, so far everything is pretty positive. The National Lottery was very good to us, it’s just hectic, hard to believe it really,” Gerry Brown, a husband of one of the siblings told Sean O’Rourke on RTÉ Radio One.

He said his wife had heard that the winner was from Ireland, but only heard the last three numbers on the news.

“She (his wife) was watching the news, it said the winner was from Ireland, she got three of the numbers and didn’t get anymore, but she knew she had three numbers. She checked online, the website was down and ten minutes later it came back up.

“I was nearly gone to get an ambulance for her, she was shocked.”

Mr Brown said they rang some of the family members that night, and that the win was “hard to get the head around” for many of the relatives.

“We rang them that night. We had loads to tell, we only told a few that night but it was still all over the place the next day.

“I probably had about six vodkas so I slept well alright.

“I’d be pretty calm but it is hard to get your head around it. We’ll be glad when it’s over, give us a bit of privacy, let us get on.”

When asked how they’ll spend the money, Mr Brown said that he would like to invest in a new push bike as he is an avid cyclist, but that they hadn’t decided where all the money would go to yet.

He added that they would be giving some of the money to charities that they have an interest in.

“We’re all kind of retired, I’m probably one of the youngest. You don’t know really what to do.

“For me, I’d probably one of the best bikes you could buy, I’m mad into cycling, that’s the only thing I’m thinking about. A push bike. You’d pay €14,000 or €15,000 no problem.

“We have our own charities we’ll be looking into. I’ve experienced nothing only good so far.

“A lot of them will probably get new cars, we haven’t really thought of it. We’ll have to give it a while to sink in. You hardly believe it.”

Mr Brown praised the local community in The Naul for respecting their privacy, saying: “We live nearest the shop, all the reporters that were there, not one of them told them where we lived.”

However the massive publicity took a toll on some of the family members, who said it was “like being in jail.”

Matt Rogers, from Naul, north Dublin, said last week: “I was happy at the start but now with all this … [people calling] … it’s like being in prison. It’s just a lot to take in.”

National Lottery CEO, Dermot Griffin, previously congratulated the family on the amazing win. “Happy days like this is what playing National Lottery games is all about. We are just  so pleased for the family and that this huge amount is being shared out.”

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