IN CHEERFUL contrast to the current woes of the Irish banks, a postman from Co Cork avoided any “stress tests” yesterday as he collected his €7 million Lotto jackpot.
A sobering thought perhaps that this life-changing cheque would need to be multiplied 10,000 times to pay the new estimated cost of the bank bailout following the latest stress tests.
For Lotto-winning postman Pat Broderick, however, thoughts of the recession could not have been further away as he and his family popped champagne inside Lotto headquarters in Dublin.
It was a change in fortune that many in the country would undoubtedly welcome as Mr Broderick went from struggling to pay his bills to joining Ireland’s rich list.
“You go from wondering where to get the money to pay the bills to this – it’s so good,” said a delighted Mary Broderick.
Mr Broderick, who is a regular Lotto player, had felt the pinch from tough budgets and the recession and had often found making all his monthly payments difficult.
“I don’t know what we are going to do with it,” he said.
“We’ll be going back home tonight and taking a break somewhere abroad.”
Known to friends as “Pat on the back, broad on the front” (due to his name), Mr Broderick said he planned to add to that title over the coming weeks while pointing at his stomach, an indicator of his intention to broaden his stomach with food and drink during celebrations.
Mr Broderick purchased the winning €10 ticket in SuperValu on Pearse Street in his home town of Kinsale in Co Cork.
He collected the cheque yesterday at the National Lottery headquarters in Dublin accompanied by 14 family members who had rented a minibus for the day.
He has become one of a number of lucky Corkonians this year, who in total have won €44 million in National Lottery draw games.
The cheque of €7,018,618 won by the Brodericks was half of a €14 million jackpot, the other half of which was collected on Wednesday by the winners from Cavan, who wished to remain anonymous.