Prime Minister Enda Kenny could have wiped out Ireland’s National Debt with a patriotic bet at racing’s Cheltenham Festival on Wednesday.

The Irish celebrated St Patrick’s Day 24 hours early with a spectacular six win raid on the home of English jumps racing.

An accumulator bet on the six Irish winners would have produced incredible odds of 1 to 1.5million.
So Kenny could have pocketed a staggering €78billion and cleared the nation’s debt if he backed all six Irish winners.

“Enda Kenny could have cleared the national debt and bankrupted the gambling industry,” confirmed William Hill’s spokesman Tony Kenny.

“The accumulator would have returned €1.5million for every Euro gambled so he could have ended the country’s financial woes in one fell swoop.”

Kenny was on his way to the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Washington as the Irish recorded those six Cheltenham wins, a record for one day at this festival.

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary led the way with a double win as First Lieutenant and Carlito Brigante triumphed for the Westmeath businessman.

O’Leary later dedicated the double to his father Ted, watching back home in Ireland as he fights throat cancer.

“It’s a very emotional day for me,” said O’Leary. “My dad is watching back home, he’s 78 now and we don’t know how many more Cheltenhams he will see so this is for him.”

Meath trainer Gordon Elliott also produced a double as he broke his Cheltenham duck in style.

The six Irish winners were Chicago Grey (5-1), First Lieutenant (7-1), Bostons Angel (16-1), Sizing Europe (10-1), Carlito Brigante (16-1) and What A Charm (9-1), owned by 86-year-old Chris Jones.