Wednesday night saw a new local millionaire born as the €8.7m Lotto jackpot was won on a ticket bought in Athlone.
Although the winner has yet to come forward there was much excitement yesterday when it was revealed that the winning ticket came from First Chapter newsagent, Golden Island Shopping Centre, Athlone.
Speaking to the Advertiser, shop owner Colin Mullins said, “We don’t have any idea of who owns the ticket, but we’re delighted for whoever won it”.
The winning €6 ticket was made up of the customer’s own numbers and quick pick, with the winning line coming from the quick pick.
Mr Mullins, who is from Galway, employs five people in his newsagents which relocated to Golden Island last July. “It’s great news for First Chapter and for Golden Island,” he said.
The vendor of the winning Lotto ticket will receive €15,000 from the National Lottery which is subject to tax.
Colin says he’ll be treating his staff to a nice meal and a night out in the coming weeks.
“We’ll be treating them to something nice in a few weeks,” he said, adding that the winner of the jackpot was still a mystery.
“We haven’t even heard any rumours of who won it,” he said. “It’s quite a large jackpot so we hope they enjoy it.”
According to the National Lottery over €27.2 million has been won in Westmeath since the Lotto started in 1988, a very respectable figure. And there have been seven jackpot wins over €1 million in the county.
A spokesperson for the National Lottery said that they are not expecting to hear from the winner any time soon.
“Some people check their numbers straight away, others keep it in their pockets for a couple of days before checking,” they said.
“It’s a waiting game at the moment, but the majority of winners like to stay private when they do come forward.”
The winning numbers from Wednesday’s jackpot of €8,749,912 were 15, 31, 35, 38, 40, 45, and the bonus was 11.
