Peter Lavery was a bus driver when he won over £10.2 million, and his life changed forever
On a Saturday night in May 1996, bus driver Peter Lavery was having a few drinks and thought his mates were playing a prank on him.
The 61-year-old, who grew up in working class Belfast, says: “We’d have those conversations all the time, thinking about what you’d do if you won the lottery. The night I won £10,248,233 there were 33.3 million people playing and I had it. Just unbelievable. It shows how quickly your life can change.”
“I took 10 people on that first holiday, a load of friends and family. We were there for two weeks. Then I took 22 people, including my brothers, friends and ex colleagues, to New York for St Patrick’s Day. We just partied for four or five days. It was a nice feeling to be able to do that for them.” Their house boasts a gym and steam room, a garden full of ornaments, a full blown bar and en-suite bathrooms with jacuzzis. He also owns a collection of more than 300 Swarovski crystal pieces, including various animals and figurines. “I had to stop buying them as I haven’t got anywhere to put them,” he laughs.
“I had a party in the house with about 100 people. I told the man who was running the bar for me to give me a double whiskey and then I said ‘That’s me off the drink’. And that was it. I’ve had the occasional drink since but I don’t need it.” Ironic then that businessman Peter’s biggest project has been the ambitious conversion of the historic Titanic Pumphouse into the first whiskey distillery in Belfast for 87 years, which opened in April this year and created 40 jobs.
Determined to give back, Peter once took 20 kids affected by the Troubles and their parents to Disney World in Florida, all expenses paid. His goal is to create jobs and opportunities in Belfast, particularly for those who grew up where he did, in the Short Strand inner-city working class part of town.
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