€175,000,000 IN MASSIVE LOTTERY WIN
THERE was one lucky Irish winner of the mammoth €175million EuroMillions jackpot last night – the country’s biggest ever lottery windfall.
The incredible win eclipses the previous record wins by Frances and Patrick Connolly, from the village of Moira in Co. Armagh, who won almost €130million in the New Year’s Day draw, and Limerick housewife Dolores McNamara, who scooped €115million in 2005.
It is also the largest win in the National Lottery’s 31-year history. The winning numbers were: 1,8, 18, 19, 39 with lucky stars 7 and 9.
The €175,475,380 jackpot win has catapulted the mystery Irish winner into the ranks of Ireland’s mega-wealthy, as they will immediately rank alongside top business leaders and movie stars.
Indeed the lucky punter – if it isn’t a syndicate – will now have more money than Liam Neeson, who is worth €125million; Van Morrison, worth €68million; Riverdance creators John McColgan and Moya Doherty, who have €102million, and Bob Geldof, who is worth €49million.
However, the National Lottery was keeping quiet about the winner – declining yet to even reveal where in the country the winning ticket was sold.
A spokesman would only tell the Irish Daily Mail last night that the ticket was sold in a shop, not online.
National Lottery CEO Dermot Griffin last night advised EuroMillions players to check their tickets to see if they have landed this windfall.
‘This is an incredible win for an Irish EuroMillions player,’ Mr Griffin said. ‘And a record win for the National Lottery, we are thrilled.
‘We are advising our players to check their tickets, and if they are the winner sign the back of the ticket, keep it safe and contact National Lottery HQ and we will guide you through the claims process. The shop that sold the winning ticket will not be revealed for a few days.
‘With such a big win we have procedures to go through but we will reveal the winning location as soon as we can. While this is a massive win, it can come as a shock to a player and we advise them to stay calm, get good independent legal and financial advice and contact us as soon as they can.
‘This has been an incredibly lucky period for players on the island of Ireland. In January a Northern Ireland couple won an amazing €127million in the EuroMillions jackpot.’
The EuroMillions has been rolling for weeks. The maximum EuroMillions jackpot of €190million has been paid out three times in the history of EuroMillions.
Last night the Irish National Lottery app crashed as tens of thousands of people went online to check if they were the lucky EuroMillions winner in possession of the golden ticket Many went online to express their exasperation and to ask others to send them the winner numbers.
One lottery player, Jacqui Hurley, said she was watching soccer last night while checking the app every 30 seconds to see if her syndicate had won the Euromillions.
Others using the app said that they didn’t know their own lottery numbers because they had chosen a Quick Pick.
One tweeter, Jessica Spencer, said that her boyfriend did a Quick Pick for the Euromillions on the lottery app but they didn’t know his numbers because the app is down. ‘Between my Mam and myself, I think by the time the app is back we’ll have the money spent,’ she joked.
‘It’s so infuriating. I don’t know if I’m a multimillionaire or not!. C’mon. I need the app back,’ wrote another woman, Siobhan.
Another woman, Sinéad Stewart, joked: ‘Would everyone please get off the lotto app so I can check me numbers?’
A message on the crashed app informed players: ‘Oops! An error has occurred. Please, go back to the Home Page.’
Irish Daily Mail columnist Philip Nolan tweeted: ‘I think the app just crashed as 2million people frantically try to check the numbers.’
Frances and Patrick Connolly, from the village of Moira on the Armagh-Down border, went public last month when they won almost €130million in the EuroMillions. Mr Connolly had purchased the Quick Pick ticket online on New Year’s Day after forgetting to buy one in their local shop a day earlier.
His wife revealed how she kept on knitting as he broke the news of their life-changing win.
Dolores McNamara’s life changed forever when, on a night out with friends in 2005, she discovered she had become Ireland’s first and biggest EuroMillions winner, scooping €115million.
‘Incredibly lucky period for Irish’