Rumours rife that has scooped €5.8m lottery jackpot
■ Search is on for owner of €5 ticket as speculation mounts about gardaí on Christmas do
THE search is on for the winner of the €5.8m Lotto jackpot that was won in the west of the country over the weekend.
The winning ticket, a €5 Quickpick, was bought in the general post office on Cecil Street, Limerick, on Saturday.
The lucky winner or winners have not yet been able to contact the National Lottery, as phone lines are not open until this morning.
Last night there was growing speculation that a Dublin-based Garda syndicate was the lucky winner of the massive prize.
The Garda unit, based in the capital’s southside, was in Limerick on a Christmas do over the weekend.
Despite the mounting rumours, this could not be verified last night.
The rumour had spread through Garda circles in the capital throughout yesterday, although gardaí would not comment on the alleged win.
The winning numbers were 4, 16, 18, 24, 32, 35 and the bonus was 6.
CEO of the National Lottery David Griffin said: “We’re advising all of our Limerick Lotto players to check their tickets this morning to find out if they have won this life-changing prize.
“If you are the lucky ticket holder or holders, sign the back of the ticket and contact the National Lottery Prize Claims Team on 01 836 4444.
“I am looking forward to welcoming the winner into the Winner’s Room in Lotto HQ soon.”
A spokesman for the National Lottery also quipped: “Whoever wins it will have enough for a decent Christmas anyway.”
He said phone lines didn’t open until this morning so it didn’t know who the lucky winner was yet.
Meanwhile, Lotto chiefs have also urged another millionaire to come forward and collect their €1m winnings from Friday’s EuroMillions Ireland Only Raff le.
The winning code found on that ticket was I-CWQ-43032 and was sold in a SuperValu store at Kilbarry Centre, Tramore Road, Co Waterford.
The win over the weekend was the second time a Lotto jackpot ticket has been sold in Limerick this year.
Winner
A lucky winner scooped almost €3m in September after buying the ticket at Coughlan’s Gala store on Quinlan Street.
At the time the manager of the store said that “speculation was rife”, and the lucky winner had since made contact with the National Lottery.
The county has also seen the first and largest EuroMillions jackpot ever scooped.
Limerick woman Dolores McNamara picked up a cheque for more than €115m in 2005.
Her win made her the 58th richest person in Ireland at the time, richer than Van Morrison, Enya and the creators of Riverdance.
Approximately 30c of every €1 spent on National Lottery games goes to a number of good causes, with more than €5bn raised to date since the lottery was established more than 30 years ago.