Joy as Westmeath family syndicate collect €6.1m Lotto prize
Joy as Westmeath family syndicate collect €6.1m Lotto prize
Lucky ticket purchased on day of birth of grandchild
An ecstatic Westmeath family have revealed how their half share of a €12.3 million winning Lotto ticket was stored in a gun cabinet in their home in order to keep it safe before cashing it in!
The jubilant family of six - who scooped €6.1 million in Saturday’s Lotto Jackpot – arrived in National Lottery headquarters yesterday Tuesday May 9 to claim their winning prize.
The winning father said the magic ticket had been safely stored in his gun cabinet since Sunday morning, after he learned it was worth a life-changing €6.1 million.
“Sure I could think of no better place to leave it!” he said.
The father, who has been playing Lotto faithfully every week since it first started 30 years ago, purchased the winning ticket at the Topaz Service Station, Dublin Road, Athlone, on the day of the birth of his grandchild.
The family discovered they held the winning ticket when they heard on the news on Sunday morning that Saturday’s Lotto Jackpot was shared, and that the two winning tickets had been purchased in Westmeath and Donegal.
“I dared hope it was us, but when we checked the winning numbers we realised our dreams had come true,” he said.
“We were over the moon”.
He rang his wife, who was in work, and told her he had won €500 on the Lotto.
“If I had told her the truth, all of her work would known! She asked me to be sure to buy a bottle of wine to have with dinner.”
The winning wife said: “I couldn’t believe it when I got home to learn that we had hit the jackpot!
“The excitement was something else.”
Each family member will get just over €1 million each “a lovely amount which will help the kids out with their mortgages and to get a great start in life,” said the mother.
The winning family have no intention of giving up work, despite their new found fortune.
The father said: “We both love our jobs and we will be carrying on as normal.”
The holder of the second shared Lotto Jackpot ticket from Saturday, purchased in Mickey Joe’s Country Store in Carrigart, County Donegal, have made contact with the National Lottery office and arrangements are being made to claim the prize.
National Lottery Chief Executive, Dermot Griffin, said today: “We are delighted for this Westmeath family who are sharing in a €6.1 million win. The Lotto is about making dreams come true and we wish them all the best of luck in the future.”
“This Lotto Jackpot roll also raised €15 million for Good Causes all over Ireland. In total €4.9 Billion has been raised for Good Causes since the National Lottery started in 1987.”