Sean hits out at lotto after being told he had won nothing on a winning ticket

Sean Fegan with the cheque he received from the National Lottery

A local lottery player has hit out at the new system in place at the National Lottery after being told he had won nothing on what was a winning ticket.

As a result of the technical problem with the machine at the shop that he checked his numbers in 41-year-old Sean Fagan ended up spending €3 more on claiming his winnings than his actual prize of €5.

Sean thought he might be in line for a pay out after realizing some of his numbers had come up in the draw on December 17^th last.

However, the Dundalk man – who now lives in Louth Village – told The Irish Daily Mirror at the weekend that he was furious that his small win ended up actually costing him.

Sean told the Irish Mirror: “I always do the Lotto every Monday.

“I get my Daily Million and EuroMillions tickets and spend €18.50 every time.

“I saw a couple of my numbers come up so I went down to the shop and they checked it on the machine there twice.

“It kept coming up blank and he just said, ‘Sorry you’ve won nothing there”, but I knew I had some of the numbers.

“When I got home I called the Lotto and they said they would call me back. I checked the internet and I saw that I had won something so I called them again and they said to send it in writing.”

Hoping he had won a sizeable sum, Sean sent off his ticket and waited patiently for his Lotto payday.

But he was left severely disappointed when he got a cheque for just €5. Sean said: “I haven’t even bothered to cash it yet. It cost me more to get it than it’s worth.

“Between going down to the shop, calling the Lottery twice and sending off the letter, it must have cost over €8.”

Sean added he’s angry he was initially told he had won nothing at all.

He added: “The Lotto said it could have been a problem with an old machine or maybe teething problems with a new one.

“It’s not about the €5 though. I never heard anything reported anywhere about problems with the machine.

“It’s OK for me but what if my ticket had been worth €1,000 and I had been told I’d won nothing? I could have lost out on a fortune.”

The news comes after last Wednesday’s draw had to be postponed 24 hours due to technical issues.

Local users are advised to double check their tickets while the gremlins are sorted.

David finally set to go home as HSE agrees to fund his care

David Garvey has been in Beaumont Hospital for 15 months

The family of a local man with ‘locked in’ syndrome has spoken of their joy at the HSE changing its mind and deciding to fund 24 hour care for him at his home.

David Garvey, 33, has been in Beaumont Hospital for 15 months after a brain injury left him paralysed and only able to communicate using his eyes.

“We never thought we would get David home alive; we thought he would only come home in a coffin. This is unbelievable news for us,” his delighted sister Lynn told RTÉ.

David has, with his family’s help, been writing letters to the HSE begging them to allow him return to his Dundalk home.

They needed the HSE to fund 24 hour nursing care for him and last week the family got the news they thought they would never come.

“We went to the Dáil last week to meet with local politicians and the national director of disability services with the HSE, Pat Healy, was there. They told us we had got the funding. It is unbelievable, it shows the HSE does listen,” said Lynn.

The news brought tears of joy to their parents Philip and Rose and relief that their campaigning had paid off.

The HSE will work with Beaumont Hospital to work out a step-down programme that will see David transferred to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, then to the Louth County Hospital in Dundalk and finally to his home on St Nicholas Avenue in Dundalk.

The family believes the mainstream and social media exposure they gave to their situation helped to influence the happy outcome.

David took to Facebook last night to tell everyone the good news and to thank everyone for their support.

“I have been granted full funding to return home!! My surprise at the news, broke to me by my family, was a welcome one, one gladly appreciated.”

“I’d like to thank firstly everyone one on this page for making my story public, and all your kind words, it means a lot.”

He thanked the deputies for Louth as well as Senator Mary Moran and the HSE “for making this happen.”

Lynn said they had been overwhelmed by the offers of support and help from some of the thousands of people who have followed their fight to give David as normal a life as possible.

“To us this is like winning the lottery and David and his fiancée Bernadette can now continue with their wedding plans,” Lynn said.

Source: RTÉ News

A lotto luck for one local woman

 

The National Lottery have announced that a Co Louth woman has become the first person to win a top prize in the Diamond Mine Instant Win Game.

One of the many new online games available to play online, it costs €3 per play and the top prize is €15,000.

Has anyone an idea of who the lucky winner is?

Either way it continues the good fortune the area has had in the lotto of late, with a number of local jackpot winners already this year.