It’s not €88m — but it’ll do nicely. Just days after Cork’s Euromillions jackpot hopes were dashed, a player from the Rebel city has scooped a €500,000 lotto jackpot, writes Eoin English.
And it has also emerged that the owner of a €1m winning ticket, which was also sold in Cork City, has yet to claim the prize.
Less than a week after the rumour mill went into overdrive about a possible Cork winner of the Euromillions jackpot, the National Lottery confirmed last night that the winning ticket in Saturday’s Lotto Plus 1 draw was sold at Singleton’s Centra shop in Gurranabraher, on the northside of the city.
A lottery spokesperson also confirmed that the owner of the winning ticket has already been in touch with lottery HQ to arrange for the collection of the prize money. The winning numbers were 3, 16, 19, 21, 23, 35, with the bonus number, 8.
Lotto rumours were swirling around the northside of Cork again last night but informed speculation was rife that the €500,000 winning ticket was bought in the Baker’s Rd shop by a local man, who is part of a four-person syndicate, on Friday.
Shop owner, Adrian Singleton, said he was delighted for the lucky winners.
“The whole place has been buzzing with rumours,” said Mr Singleton. “We believe it’s someone local alright and we’re delighted for them. We were all talking last week about what you could do if you won the €88m in the Euromillions. But this is a lovely amount to win — it’s very manageable. It will set them up nicely.”
The shop sold a €250,000 winning lottery ticket about five years ago, and Mr Singleton said he was looking forward to treating his staff to a night out on the commission for selling the latest winning ticket.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that there is a millionaire in waiting who has yet to claim their prize. The lottery spokesman said the winner of the top €1m prize in their New Year’s Eve Millionaire Raffle draw has yet to contact them.
The ticket, 179740, was sold on December 21 in the Topaz service station in Tivoli.
The lucky winner, who has 90 days to claim the prize, has been advised to sign the back of the winning ticket, put it in a safe place, and contact the National Lottery office soon on 01 836 4444.
This article first appeared in the Irish Examiner.
