"The Lotties", a group of 17 nurses from Wexford General Hospital, have collected a €2.8 million Lotto jackpot they won on December 10th. Each winner's share of the prize is more than €170,000.

"It's a nice amount," said the organiser of the syndicate, Johanna Mary Doyle, as she and other members collected their winnings from National Lottery headquarters in Dublin. She said if the winnings for each had been in the millions, "I don't know how you'd function".

The 11 retired and six current nurses have been together for 16 years in the syndicate, which was formed when they were working in the coronary care unit of Wexford General Hospital. Their winning ticket was a €64 multi-draw one purchased in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.

“I can’t believe it — we’re still on cloud 9,” said Carmel Watchorn, one of the retired nurses. She said she heard the news of the syndicate winning while she was driving. “I thought, this is worse than driving while drunk.”

Julia O’Neill said she did not know what to do with her winnings. “I’m just happy to have it,” she said. “Maybe (it’ll go towards) a holiday.” Ms O’Neill said the group of 17 had just met for lunch the day the winning numbers were announced, and that night Ms Doyle called and said they had won.

“It’s unbelievable — it’s something you dream about but never imagine it would happen,” said Wexford town resident Denny Grannel, whose wife, Anne, was a member of the syndicate.

The couple, who have three children in their 30s and four grandchildren under 6, have no specific plans on how to spend their winnings. “It hasn’t sunken in yet,” Mr Grannel said. “We’re old enough to realise it’s not the be-all and end-all.”