Meath man picks up his €500k as National Lottery headquarters reopens

It was a Friday feeling like no other for a select number of National Lottery winners from Clare, Dublin and Meath who claimed in excess of €54 million in prizes between them as Lotto HQ reopened its prize collection facility in Dublin City.

Among those lucky winners was a delighted Dublin woman who officially became Ireland’s 16th EuroMillions jackpot winner since 2004 after she claimed a cheque for a truly life-changing €49.5 million following her jackpot win on Tuesday 21st July.

The woman who played her €2.50 ticket online says that she wishes to keep her win private as she explained that she is still struggling to come to terms with the sheer size of her incredible EuroMillions win which is worth €49,564,587.

She said: “It has almost been three weeks since the draw and even now, it still doesn’t feel real. On the night of the draw, I checked my phone around midnight and there was an email to say I had won a prize on my EuroMillions ticket. I’d regularly win prizes here and there so when I logged in, I half expected to see that I’d won a few euros and I even hoped that it might be a few hundred. What happened next will stick with me for the rest of my life. On the ticket, it said that there was one winner of the EuroMillions jackpot and that winner was me.”

“I was in such a state of shock, I had to tell somebody so I called my friend straight away. It was obvious that my phone call had woken him from his sleep and he had no interest in hearing my ramblings! When I tried to explain that I had won the EuroMillions jackpot, he instantly dismissed it saying that either I was dreaming or that I had been drinking!” she laughed.

After finally claiming her life-altering prize, the lucky Dublin woman plans to use her new found fortune to enrich the lives of those close to her. She said:

“This is such a huge prize and it gives me a great deal of responsibility and of course freedom do help an awful lot of good for the people closest to me. I am going to surround myself with some people to properly advise me on the best way to make plans for my money but my main priority is to help my family and friends.”

Also claiming a life-changing prize today was a family syndicate from Co Clare who won a Lotto jackpot prize worth €4,041,306 on Saturday 9th May. The ecstatic family purchased their ticket at Talty’s Mace Circle K in Lisseycasey on the day of the draw.

The winning father stated that the family have spent the last number of months carefully deciding their plans for the money and will not get carried away despite their new millionaire status. He said, “It feels like a lifetime ago when we were all sitting around the TV last May as we watched our numbers come out one by one on the Saturday night Lotto draw. It was just an unbelievable feeling to experience that with your family but we have finished our celebrating and we look forward to the rest of our lives with an equal share of this Lotto jackpot win. We’re going to look after each other and I promise that we certainly won’t get carried away with any mad spending on expensive cars or anything like that!”

Another winner to claim a top tier National Lottery prizes today was a Meath man who won the €500,000 EuroMillions Plus top prize from Friday 3rd April. The winning ticket was purchased at Lidl in Trim.

The final big winners of the day was a husband and wife syndicate from Dublin who won the Lotto Match 5 + Bonus prize of €96,153 on Saturday 18th July. The winning ticket was sold at the Centra store on Lower Kimmage Road in Dublin 6W.

The National Lottery has confirmed that it has reopened its office at Lotto HQ on Abbey Street in Dublin city centre to facilitate top tier winners of €15,000 and above (€10,000 and above for online players) who wish to avail of the prize claim facility. Prize payments will be facilitated by appointment only. Alternatively, winners can also still claim their prizes by using the approved postal payment service which was introduced due to Covid19.

A National Lottery spokesperson said: “Our priority is always the safety of our employees and our players and given the on-going health emergency, only a limited team remain on-site at Lotto HQ to facilitate draw and prize claims. Top tier prize claims at Lotto HQ are by appointment only and all prize winners of €15,000 and above (€10,000 for online players) are encouraged to contact the National Lottery Claims Department by calling 1800 666 222 or by emailing claims@lottery.ie and arrangements will be made for the prize to be claimed.”

Want to share that winning feeling? Play Lotto. Saturday night’s jackpot is an estimated €6.2 million. Play in store, on the National Lottery App or online by 7:45pm by Saturday evening for your chance to win.

Nearly 30 cent in every €1 spent on all National Lottery games goes back to Good Causes in the areas of sport, youth, health, welfare, education, arts, heritage and the Irish Language. In total more than €5.6 Billion has been raised for Good Causes since the National Lottery was established 32 years ago. In 2019 alone, €250 million was raised for local Good Causes in communities across Ireland.