Lotto

Two Dublin players got the month of February off to a winning start after they scooped the Lotto Plus 1 and 2 top prizes of €1 Million and €250,000 in Wednesday’s 1^st February draw. The winner of the Lotto plus 1 top prize was a family syndicate from Dublin who purchased their winning ticket on the National Lottery app. The family, who wish to remain private, said it was just a normal evening in their house when they discovered their big win: “It was a regular chilled out night in front of the TV. I actually forgot to check my ticket until I got an email to say I’d won something; I was expecting €3 or €4. Then I saw it was €1 Million and I nearly fell off the seat”, said the winning ticket holder.

“The win will take some pressure off and definitely make life a bit more comfortable. In the long term we hope to get our forever home, but for the short term, we’re looking to celebrate by taking our first ever trip to Anfield to see Liverpool play and a holiday at Center Parcs in Longford”, added another family member.

Meanwhile in the same draw, a player from Ranelagh scooped the Lotto Plus 2 prize €250,000. They purchased their winning quick pick ticket on the day of the draw in SuperValu, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.

On the 22^nd of February,  a group of friends from Dublin Matched 5 + Bonus prize in Wednesday’s Lotto draw which was worth an incredible €364,219. The syndicate, which is headed up by a retired professional soldier, relived the excitement they experienced when they found out about their huge win late on Wednesday night.
“You will never meet a more deserving group of people to win a prize like this and I’m thrilled for the group,” said the head of the syndicate.
 “I organise the Lotto tickets through my online lottery account and shortly after the draw, I received an email from the National Lottery telling me that I had some good news about my ticket. I didn’t get too carried away at first but once I opened the email and seen that the prize was worth over €350,000 – I was in complete shock! I knew they wouldn’t believe me at first so I took a picture of the screen on my phone and dropped it straight into the WhatsApp group so that they could share in the excitement straight away,” he said.

The third Lotto jackpot winner of the year was made on Saturday’s 25^th February when a family syndicate from Limerick scored the jackpot prize of an incredible €5,604,203! The syndicate was set up nine years ago and started off with a random quick pick line which the family then decided to keep after growing fond of the numbers. The winning ticket was purchased on the National Lottery app.

“We started this family syndicate in January of 2014 just for a bit of fun and something that would bring us together. On the night we won, I checked the app and saw straight away that we’d matched all of the numbers, I elbowed my wife and said, we’re after winning the Lotto Jackpot and she didn’t even flinch. Cool as a cucumber she said: “Just give me the money, I’ll be sure to spend it”, the lead syndicate member laughed.

“You were slow enough to tell the rest of us, we didn’t get a call until the following day”, added another syndicate member. “A group WhatsApp call was organised and we were then all told the amazing news. We thought this was a joke and they were having us on! We were just in complete disbelief, and still were until we saw the physical cheque in front of us today”, they said.
Clearing off mortgages, upgrading cars and some holidays of a lifetime are just some of the ways in which syndicate wish to spend their winnings.

In the same draw that night, two players won the Match 5 + Bonus prize, each receiving €27,537.

One of the winners was a jetsetter who got their weekend off to a flying start after purchasing their winning ticket in Spar, Terminal 2, Dublin Airport. The second winning ticket was sold at XL Headlines, Corrib Shopping Centre, Co. Galway.

EuroMillions Raffle

The first EuroMillions raffle event of the year took place on Friday 3^rd of February, where 100 millionaires were guaranteed to be made across the nine participating EuroMillions countries.

Three players from Ireland became overnight millionaires following the draw. The winners were from Dublin, Donegal and Meath.

The player from Donegal wasn’t hanging about and was the first of the three winners to claim their prize in Lottery HQ. The player travelled down from Donegal on Tuesday 7^th of February to pick up their cheque worth €1 Million. The winning ticket was purchased on the day of the draw in Burnfoot Service Station in Grianian Vale, Burnfoot, Co. Donegal. 

The following day, a married couple from Dublin claimed their €1 million prize. The couple, who also wish to remain private, purchased their ticket on the day of the draw on the National Lottery App. They revealed to the National Lottery the moment they realised they’d won: “We both have terrible eyesight and when I got the email to say I’d won, I mistakenly thought it said €1,000 on it, so I called out to my wife to come have a look, but then I realised it was actually €1 Million and my hands started shaking and sweating”, the winner said.

“He’s a bit of a practical joker, so I told him to go away from me because I thought it was one of his pranks! Then I looked at the ticket and couldn’t believe my eyes”, his wife added.

Clearing off the mortgage on their house and a family holiday are just some of the things the couple hope to do with their winnings. "I’m going full mid-life crisis and buying a Porsche”, jested the winner, much to the dismay of his wife!

There was plenty of cheering and celebrating in the National Lottery’s winners' room on Thursday 9th February when a work syndicate of thirteen from Co. Meath claimed their EuroMillions raffle prize worth an incredible €1 Million. The syndicate purchased their winning quick pick ticket on the 3^rd of February in Centra, Nobber, Co. Meath. The group pulled up to National Lottery HQ in a party bus, full of excitement. The head of the group syndicate revealed to the National Lottery the story behind the winning ticket: “We’ve been running the syndicate since 2016 and we play every week. I always buy a ticket on a Friday, but I never usually check it until we’re all in the office together on a Monday. However, this was a Bank Holiday weekend and I had heard that the shop where I purchased the ticket sold one worth €1 Million, so by Monday, curiosity got the better of me and I checked it. Well low and behold, it said we won big, and I started ringing some of the syndicate members straight away!  It then dawned on me that I had been walking around with a ticket in my bag for three days worth €1 Million! That night, I brought the winning ticket to bed with me and kept it under my pillow, I wasn’t letting it out of my clutches," they said.

The syndicate has been running for seven years but this latest win is their biggest yet, with each member scooping over €76,000 each.

“We’ve won a couple of hundred euros here or there, but to win €1 million is the stuff of dreams. The craic we’ve had over the past couple of days has been brilliant, we’ve barely got any work done with all the excitement! It’s so special to share this money with a group like this and to know that so many families will benefit from this”, another syndicate member added.

A new car, some home improvements and clearing off mortgages are just some of the things syndicate members wish to do with their new prize money.

EuroMillions

It was a Monday to remember for one lucky grandmother from Cork who claimed a EuroMillions prize worth €147,833 at National Lottery HQ today. The delighted Cork woman was joined by her family as she travelled to Dublin to collect the prize which she won on Tuesday 14th February, having bought her winning ticket at Dunnes Stores in Bishopstown in Co. Cork. There were audible gasps of disbelief from her family members when the caring Cork granny vowed to share her entire winnings amongst her children and grandchildren. “Of course, we’re all going to share it! I’m blessed to have a wonderful family and I want each of my children and grandchildren to have an equal share of the prize. Not one of them will want to take a penny from me but I am going to insist that they take it – whether they want to enjoy spending it now or if they want to put it aside for their futures. It’s always been a dream for me to be able to give something like this to my family!,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed the excitement that the win has brought into the family home over the past week or so. We’ll enjoy the celebrations and take a week or two before we go on any spending sprees. I have a couple of small jobs that need to be done around the house. That’s my spending planned so we won’t be getting too carried away with the money,” she added.

On the 21^st of February, a player from Kildare scooped the EuroMillions Plus top prize worth €500,000.

The player, who wishes to remain private, purchased their winning Quick Pick ticket on the day of the draw at the popular Applegreen service station on Sallins Road, Naas, Co. Kildare.

Four days later, two players from Cork and Dublin scooped the EuroMillions top prize of €500,000 in Friday night’s, 24th February draw.  The winning ticket in Cork was sold on Thursday the 23rd of February in SuperValu on Main Street in Charleville. The Dublin player purchased their winning quick pick ticket, worth half a million euro, in Dunnes Stores in Kilnamanagh Shopping Centre, Tallaght.