|
UK
Casino Times
> Casino
News
03 August 2005
Ticket To Largest Win In Lottery
History Left Lying In Irish Bank
The
wealthiest winner in European lottery history failed to come
forward to collect her 115.6 million prize yesterday, to
the disappointment of waiting press.
Dolores McNamara, a
housewife and mother of six children from Limerick, was
expected to arrive at the Dublin offices of the lottery
organisation to collect a cheque for the equivalent of
£77 million.
Mrs McNamara, 50, won the
jackpot in last Friday's EuroMillions draw, but has not been
seen since celebrating with champagne in the Track Bar in
Limerick shortly after the winning numbers were
announced.
The winning ticket is
understood to still be locked in the vault of Mrs McNamara's
local bank in Limerick City.
It has been reported that
Mrs McNamara, who is now Ireland's 72nd richest person,
ahead of Enya, the singer and Roy Keane, the footballer, has
either fled abroad or is hiding from the media in a
hotel.
Yesterday a spokeswoman
for the Irish National Lottery said that Mrs McNamara had 90
days to present her winning ticket and collect her prize.
The money was in the process of being collected from the
eight European headquarters of the lottery and would be
deposited with the Dublin branch by 2:30pm today.
Paula McEvoy, of the
National
Lottery, said: "We
have had no form of contact at all. But bear in mind the
winner has 90 days from Friday to collect their prize. We
are hoping the winner will make contact today. There is
quite a buzz around the office - everyone anticipates
winners or anyone coming in."
The tumble of six numbers,
combined with the legendary luck of the Irish, has turned
Mrs McNamara, a former chemist shop assistant, into one of
Europe's wealthiest individuals with a net worth on a par
with Robbie Williams, who was required to wear bottomless
chaps and dance in a boy band to earn his £78
million.
According to the most
recent "rich list", Mrs McNamara is richer than Sir Frank
Williams, the motor-racing entrepreneur who is worth
£76 million. She is £3 million richer than Rod
Stewart, who is worth £75 million. David and Victoria
Beckham are virtually paupers compared to Mrs McNamara who
has £12 million more than their net worth of £65
million.
The Irish wife's tale of
not-quite-rags to riches is worthy of one of Lord Archer's
novels, which have earned him a paltry £65
million.
The mother of six grew up
in Limerick City, whose poverty was portrayed in the memoir,
Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt. Her husband, Adrian, is a
bricklayer who recently recovered from a heart bypass
operation.
The family's extreme
wealth will now permit them access to a new level of
consumer spending. A figure as large as £77 million
will earn them at least 5 per cent interest per annum, the
equivalent of £3,850,000 each year or £10,500 per
day.
The late Alan Clark, the
Tory MP who dismissed Michael Heseltine, a self-made
millionaire, as the type of man who had to purchase his own
furniture (Clark inherited his with a castle from his
father) said the truly rich live not off the interest on
their capital, but on the interest earned from the interest.
For Mrs McNamara, the annual interest on £3,850,000 a
year would be the equivalent of £192,500 per
year.
To date, the requests from
her children, daughters Dawn, 28, Kim, 22, Kevan, 20, and
sons, Gary, 26, Dean, 15, and Lee, 13, have been for a
holiday villa, a white horse and a new house.
Michael Winner, the film
director, who famously said it required £20million to
be comfortably rich, yesterday suggested that the family
could buy two Van Gogh paintings or invest in a Gulf Stream
V private jet, which costs £21 million and £2.5
million a year to run.
They could also purchase
245 of the most expensive cars in Britain, the Mercedes Benz
SLR, priced at £313,540. Or alternatively, Mrs McNamara
could afford 16,058 of the cheapest cars on the road, the
Perodua Kelisa, at £4,795.
The win would also enable
her to buy 20 private artificial islands in the "World"
development off the Dubai coast and still have change left
for a 121-day round-the-world cruise on the Queen Mary 2 for
£270,000. If she decided to move from her £90,000
bungalow, she could compete with JP McManus, the former
co-owner of Manchester United, who lives nearby. He is
building a £14 million Palladian house near
Limerick.
Jon Carter, a financial
advisor with Orchard Independent in Edinburgh, said the best
source of investment for such a sum was commercial property.
"I would avoid stocks and shares. Sure she could double her
money, but she could also half it."
Dave Stewart, the former
guitarist of The Eurythmics, once said he suffered from
"Paradise Syndrome", a mental condition that plagues the
insufferably successful with imaginary ailments.
Yet Hunter Davies, author
of Living on the Lottery, said it was a myth that people who
win a huge sum of money are unhappy. "Obviously this is an
extreme example. She has won a gross amount of money and the
media spotlight will be on her.
"Also I have no idea of
her character, but from studying big winners, I have to say
that the majority end up much happier than before they won
the lottery."
Perhaps Dolores McNamara
should bear that in mind as she considers the daunting
prospect of breaking cover to face the waiting media
pack.
Play
Online At Spin Palace Casino - Get £75 FREE - Click
Here
Related pages:
EuroMillions
National Lottery Winner Still in
Hiding
EuroMillions
Winner 'Devastated' By Win
Also see:
UK
Online Casinos
Reviews of the leading, approved UK online casinos. Includes
details of the free money welcome bonuses offered to new
players by the online casinos.
Online
Casinos Guide
New to online casinos? We take you through the process in a
friendly, easy-going way.
CasinoTimes.co.uk
is updated every day with the latest online casino and
gambling news.
Click
Here
to bookmark us and check us out daily!
Return
to UK Casino News index
|
