Keepinglottowinsecret
THERE were no Monday morning blues for a local couple when they travelled to Dublin to collect a cheque for €500,000 after winning the EuroMillions Plus top prize on Tuesday 21 March, having bought their quick pick ticket in Dunnes Stores, Ard Easmuinn, the previous day.
As they come to terms with their good luck and new fortune, the couple revealed that they hadn’t told anyone of their win.
‘We still haven’t told anybody in our family, including our kids,’ said the winning wife.
‘We are still coming to terms with the realisation that we now have a half a million Euro in the bank so we need to take some time before we start making any plans.’
While sitting comfortably in the National Lottery winners’ room in Dublin, the husband, who is a regular EuroMillions and Lotto player, said he was always hopeful that he would one day pick up a large EuroMillions win after having a close brush with a previous EuroMillions jackpot winner in Ireland, ‘We thought that we had won the EuroMillions jackpot of €88.5 million in January,’ he laughed.
‘I bought a ticket in the winning Applegreen Service Station in Lusk in Dublin and I was absolutely convinced that I had won. I had the ticket for days and I was too afraid to check it. Once I heard that the winners came forward, I promised that I would be next to win big,’ he said.
Now that they actually have won the big prize, the happy couple promised to pay off their mortgage and some outstanding bills before treating them- selves to a break.
‘For the last ten years, we have spent our holidays on staycation in Ireland so I think it’s time to treat ourselves to a nice sun holiday once we have paid off all of our bills. It’s a great comfort to know that we will be finally free of our mortgage for the rest of our days,’ they added.
This was the third lotto success for the Ard Easmuinn branch of Dunnes Stores, where store manager Anthony Moroney said staff were thrilled to hear they had scored a lotto hat-trick!
‘We were delighted to get the call from the National Lotto that a winning ticket had been sold here.’
The manager added that the lotto is an increasingly busy part of the store’s sales, and with a number of ways to play both the national lotto and Euromillions, it was impossible to tell who might have purchased the ticket.
‘We are a busy neighbourhood store, with a lot of local people shopping here, so hopefully it is one of our regulars who has been lucky.’
This is the biggest winning ticket the shop has sold in recent years following wins of €250,000 and €350,000.