After more than two months without a winner, the jackpot for the draw on Saturday 18th April was worth €9.7 million. Only one ticket matched all the main numbers - 4, 9, 15, 27, 29 and 34. The lucky entry was sold in Daly’s Supervalu in Killarney, County Kerry.
The winner got in touch with lottery officials a few days later, but the prize cannot be paid out just yet because the claims process has had to be adjusted due to the coronavirus crisis.
The National Lottery has introduced extra restrictions at its Dublin headquarters, with everyone who wins €15,000 or more told not to travel. Instead, they should contact the claims team to validate winning tickets. A spokesman said: “Then we can keep them up to date on claiming when safe to do so.”
Speaking about the €9.7 million winner, the spokesman said: “We can confirm that we have been contacted this afternoon by the lucky ticket-holder and arrangements are currently being made for the claim to be made once restrictions are lifted due to the ongoing public health emergency.”
Lotto fans will therefore have to wait to find out more about who won the massive jackpot – the largest to have been seen since a player from County Wicklow scooped €11 million in August 2019.
The winner will be able to choose whether to stay anonymous or go public, but the manager of the store which sold the winning ticket is convinced it belongs to someone local.
PJ Magee, manager of Daly’s Supervalu, said: “We’re hoping that, we think that that’s the way it should be like because with the restrictions we feel that people should be a local person.”
The National Lottery has already doubled the amount of time that winners have to claim prizes in Ireland, from 90 days to 180 days.
The jackpot reset to €2 million after it was won by the player from County Kerry and is now up to €2.8 million ahead of the draw on Wednesday.
