Mayo teacher hopes she has Winning Streak for aunt

Mayo Abbey woman appears on RTÉ this Saturday night

A Mayo woman is hoping to make it the perfect start to 2019 when she appears on RTÉ One’s National Lottery Winning Streak show this Saturday for her aunt.
Mary Kirrane from Mayo Abbey said she had no choice when she was asked by her aunt, Annie Kirrane, to take her place on Winning Streak. “You just can’t say no to Annie!” she said. Stunned after her name was selected to appear on the show, Annie turned to her niece and asked her to play for her.
Mary, a primary school teacher, was born in the US after her parents, both from Mayo, met and married in San Francisco. The family moved back to Ireland when Mary was 18 months old, and she has lived in Mayo Abbey ever since.
She teaches in Mayo Abbey NS, and her colleagues and pupils are all very excited about seeing her on the show. Mary also works as a carer for her mum, Ellen. She has one sibling, her brother John, who will be in the Winning Streak audience.
Mary hopes to do as well as she can for Annie, who, she says, deserves this slice of luck as she is ‘such a lovely person’. She says Annie has no plans for the cash, as she is still coming to terms with her name being pulled out.
The first Winning Streak of the year, co-presented as always by Marty Whelan and Sinéad Kennedy, will feature a host of brand new games, including Play or Pay, Roll for Riches, WinFall and Electric Dream – where one player will win an electric car worth €25,000.
As ever, one of the lucky five players will get the chance to spin the wheel and win up to €500,000. But this series – in another first – a €100,000 segment will be added to the iconic Grand Prize Wheel every show if less than that was won in the previous show, improving players’ chances to win a massive prize.
This Saturday, Mary will play against Tom Magee from Rostrevor, Co Down; Rosemary O’Brien from Coill Dubh, Co Kildare; Luke Holland from Bandon, Co Cork; and Bernadette Carey from Newbridge, Co Kildare.
Nearly 30 percent of all money spent on Winning Streak and all National Lottery games is given to good causes in the areas of sport, youth, health, welfare, education, arts and heritage. In 2018 alone, the National Lottery raised over €227 million for such worthy causes.