You’ve got mail... and it’s worth €7million
THE mystery winner of Saturday’s Lotto jackpot of almost €7million in Co. Cork is to have the life-changing prize delivered to their front door.
During the current health crisis, Lotto winners have the luxury of receiving their cheque by post now, rather than having to collect it in person.
Normally, any prize exceeding €15,000 (or €10,000 for online players) requires winners to travel to National Lottery HQ on Abbey Street in Dublin to claim their prize. However, this has not been possible during the Covid-19 pandemic.
To address this issue, Premier Lotteries Ireland, in agreement with the Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery, has temporarily amended the National Lottery licence to allow winners to avail of an approved postal claims process following rigorous verification checks.
These checks include communication via online video link between lottery officials and the winners.
Last week, a Kerry family who won a massive €9.7million Lotto fortune last April became the first ever Lotto jackpot winners to receive their cheque in the post. A National Lottery spokesperson said it has also extended the period of time in which winners can claim their prizes to 180 days, from the normal 90 days, to encourage people to stay at home and not require them to make any unnecessary journeys.
It has emerged the winning ticket for last Saturday’s €6.9million jackpot was sold at a family-owned service station in Togher on the outskirts of Cork city.
Staff at the Murphy’s Circle K service station on Vicar’s Road yesterday celebrated selling the winning ticket.
The owner of the store, Noel Murphy, heralded the win as a tremendous boost to a community which has come together strongly during the pandemic.
‘I have been absolutely bursting to share this amazing news,’ he said.