Fantastic Friday for one lucky Euro Millions player
SPECULATION is rife as to who is sitting on a cool quarter of a million euro after a player who bought their ticket in the Gawlia Stores, Gorey, matched five numbers and a lucky star in Friday night’s Euro Millions draw.
A spokesperson for the National Lottery confirmed to this newspaper yesterday evening, Monday, that the winning ticket holder was in touch with the headquarters in Dublin earlier in the day, and that arrangements were being made for them to travel up to collect the prize.
No further details on the identity of the winner were available, apart from the fact that it was a player from Co Wexford.
‘I have absolutely no idea who it was,’ said Maureen Breen, proprietor of The Gwalia Stores where the lucky ticket was purchased last Friday.
‘We had a queue of people in buying tickets on Friday,’ she said. ‘When the jackpot is big, it is always busy.’
She doesn’t even know if it was herself or one of the other staff members in the shop who sold the ticket, and has no idea if the winner was local, as the shop also does a busy trade with commuters travelling on the bus to Dublin.
The lucky player was just one number away from winning Friday’s huge jackpot of over €109 million. The mystery Gorey player was the biggest Irish winner in Friday’s draw as they matched the five + Lucky Star prize of €269,554.
The Quick Pick ticket was sold on the day of the draw. The winning numbers were: 9, 11, 12, 19, 30 Lucky Stars: 4, 9.
Maureen was contacted by people from the National Lottery on Saturday morning, and was overjoyed to hear the news that one of her customers was a big winner. ‘We are in complete shock,’ she said. ‘We are a small local shop in a small hard-working community and this will bring a huge boost to all in the town’.
Recalling the queue for tickets on Friday, she said that knowing that one of those lucky players had won over a quarter of a million in her shop was so satisfying. ‘Whoever won it, fair play to them,’ she said.
As the jackpot wasn’t won on Friday, tonight Tuesday’s Euro Millions jackpot is a mammoth €120 million.