How National Lottery winner Sheila Maguire spent her prize and the changes it brought to her life.
As the National Lottery marks its 100th spin of the wheel of fortune, Gay Byrne meets some people who have won the grand prize game to find out what they did with the money and how it changed their lives.
Dubliner Sheila Maguire runs a guesthouse in Bantry, County Cork. In August 1987 she won £100,000 on the spin the wheel game at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham.
From the outset, the only things Sheila Maguire wanted to buy with her winnings were a dishwasher and a rotary iron. After that, she bought a semi-commercial washing machine and dryer.
Then I went wild and bought a sports car.
When probed by Gay Byrne, Sheila Maguire reveals she spent £2,500 on a seven-year-old metallic gold Fiat x19.
It was a banger you bought!
A fan of musicals thanks to her winnings Sheila Maguire has seen 'The Phantom of the Opera' and ‘Cats’ in London with her husband Michael. However, she left him behind when she visited California with her friends,
Women’s lib works very well in my house.
The big win has not hugely changed Sheila Maguire’s life. She still works every day but was able to help sons Cathal and Conor set up their business. There is the comfort of knowing she has savings put by for her retirement and if she ever wants to do something, she can afford to do it.
This episode of ‘The Late Late Show’ was broadcast on 3 March 1989. The presenter is Gay Byrne.
