Matthew Donnellan from Bailieboro €10,000 as the Dream Player on last Saturday's Winning Streak TV gameshow held. At the presentation of winning cheques were (from left): Sinead Kennedy, host; Matthew Donnellan, winner; Dermot Griffin, CEO, the National Lottery and Marty Whelan, host. PHOTO: Mac Innes Photography

The lucky couple from Kingscourt, who today picked up their €500,000 winnings from the Daily Million Plus draw on October 10, are set to emigrate.

The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, had only handed their notice in at work on the Tuesday but won half a million the following day.

The husband bought his €6 Quick Pick in Pat's Shop on Main Street. Accompanied by his wife and young family, they collected their prize from National Lottery offices yesterday (Tuesday) and explained how the win couldn't have happened at a better time for them.

"It's been a tough few years and we decided to emigrate to Australia to make a better way of life," said the delighted wife. "On Tuesday 9 October we both handed in our notice and then on Wednesday my husband bought the ticket. We couldn't believe it when we found out we'd won. To us this is worth €50 million!"

The husband continued: "I felt sick when I heard that the shop had sold the winning ticket. I don't know what it was but I just had a weird feeling that it was my ticket. I went to the house, got the ticket and went straight to the shop to check it. I was in total shock!"

The couple are awaiting approval of their Australia visa applications. They plan to emigrate in the next few weeks.

"This means so much to us - we can pay off our loans, get ourselves set up in Australia and put the kids through college," said the delighted wife.

And it seems that County Cavan's winning streak is continuing as Matthew Donnellan from Bailieboro won €10,000 as the Dream Player on last Saturday's Winning Streak TV Gameshow.

His win follows hot on the heels of Dermott Walsh from Cavan town who scooped almost €300,000 on the show two weeks previously.

In addition to those and the Kingscourt couple, Luke Sexton from Cavan Town won €2.8m in the Lotto with another €10,000 won in Ballyjamesduff and another major winner in the Laragh area.