The footballer from Co. Kerry who helped his GAA side book themselves an important semi-final spot also won a cool won €42,000 thanks to his sister, as she played in his place on the National Lottery TV game show Winning Streak.
Corner forward Michael Foley from Killarney, Co. Kerry played a key role in East Kerry’s Kerry Senior Football Championship quarter-final as they saw off Dingle by 1-23 to 1-11 at Austin Stack Park. The game, broadcast on RTÉ Two, was aired at the same time as his sister, Melissa played in his place on the hit TV game show, Winning Streak on RTÉ One.
Michael (22) had a big decision to make last week after his name was drawn from the drum to appear on Winning Streak on the same evening as his scheduled game. Of course he opted to play in his big match for East Kerry, but his older sister Melissa (28) stepped in during his hour of need and flew into Dublin from London to take his place in the Winning Streak hot seat! She did him proud winning him a cool €42,000 in cash meaning it was double celebrations for Michael last weekend.
The first thing Melissa did two Saturday’s ago, when she found out that Michael was going to be on Winning Streak, was to book a flight to Ireland so she could cheer him on from the studio audience. Little did she know back then that she would be playing in his place. It was certainly a Foley sibling takeover on RTÉ as RTÉ Two broadcast the game at the same time Winning Streak was aired on RTÉ One.
It was a flying visit for Melissa flew over on Friday evening and returned to London on Sunday afternoon. She has lived in London for the past four and a half years, since she moved over with her boyfriend Shane, since she left Killarney after college. She works as a Cancer Nurse Specialist in St. George’s Hospital in London.
Melissa was be supported in the audience by her parents Helen and Mike (Snr) and other members of family and close friends. Michael has no plans as of yet on what he wants to do with the winnings as last week was a really busy week but he is sure to treat his older sister!
Michael has only returned to Ireland in May this year after two years of travelling around Australia. He played football when he was in Australia and played for Penrith Gaels in Sydney and Garryowen in Melbourne while he was living away from home.
The National Lottery game show is co-presented by Marty Whelan and Sinead Kennedy and features some perennial favorite 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. An exciting element of the show is that one €100,000 segment will be added to the Grand Prize Wheel every show if less than that amount was won in the previous show, improving players chances to win a massive prize.
A brand new-look Winning Streak scratch card is available in the 5,900 National Lottery retailers all over the country. In addition to the chance to appear on the Winning Streak TV game show if you get three stars, players will also be in with a chance to win some great cash prizes up to €5,000. The odds for those who purchase a Winning Streak to win is 1 in 1.86 to win a cash or three star prize. All players who purchase a scratch card can send their stubs into the National Lottery using grey envelopes, available in all National Lottery agents, where each week on the show, a player will be drawn as the winner of a Luxury Cruise for two valued at €5,000.
