Retired Mayo man set to go on a Winning Streak

A RETIRED Mayo man is set to appear on the National Lottery Winning Streak TV game show tomorrow (Saturday) on RTÉ One.

Michael Kilbane, from Castlebar, only caught the second half of Winning Streak last Saturday and watched the rest of the show completely unaware he had been drawn to appear on this week’s show!

Later that evening his phone rang and it was an old friend asking “Well, was it you?”

Michael had no idea what he was talking about but after another couple of calls, he realised that he was heading for the Winning Streak stage.

The news sunk in pretty quickly but that didn’t stop Michael, and his wife of 56 years, Margaret, watching the repeat on RTÉ the following day - just to be doubly sure!

The couple have been overwhelmed by the good wishes from their neighbours in Castlebar and they are looking forward to the experience this weekend.

They have two sons. Stephen lives and works in Portugal and will be watching online, while his son Peter will be in the Winning Streak studio with his children, Rebecca and Emily.

Michael has two brothers: Joe, who lives in Achill, and Johnny, who lives in London.

Michael originally comes from Achill Island and moved to Castlebar when he retired in 2004. Retirement has been treating him well and he says he has a lot more time to spend with his wife and to do his garden.

Michael is going to wait until the dust has settled from his Winning Streak appearance to decide what to do with his prize money as he hasn’t given it a second thought just yet.