Clare man collects €93k from winning Lotto ticket bought by a friend for him while he was snowbound
Three different winners have claimed more than €390,000 from National Lottery headquarters in Dublin today.
The day’s luckiest winners was a man from Co. Clare who claimed a €93,617 Lotto Match 5 + Bonus prize from Saturday, March 3.
He revealed that he was completely snowed in at home last weekend and only managed to get his hands on the winning Lotto ticket with the help of a loyal friend.
He said: “I always do the Lotto each and every week so it would have bothered me not to play just because of the snow.
"I sent a couple of texts around to friends to see if any of them could make it to the shops for me and luckily one of the lads managed to get me a ticket in Lisdoonvarna.”
The winning Quick Pick ticket was sold at Jordan’s Mace Supermarket in Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare, on the day of the draw.
The winner was joined in the National Lottery by his obliging friend, with whom he promised to share part of his winnings.
He said: “I wouldn’t be sitting here with this cheque in my hand only that he braved the snow to buy my winning Lotto ticket.
"I’ll be sharing my winnings with him, that’s for sure. We’re going to enjoy the celebrations down in Lisdoonvarna tonight and on Monday we’ll put a plan together and put the money to some good use.”
The big winner of the day was a Dublin father who claimed a €250,000 Lotto Plus 2 top prize.
The Dubliner was oblivious to the fact that he had won it until he checked his ticket earlier this week.
“We had absolutely no idea that we had a ticket lying around the house worth a quarter of a million euro," he said.
"We would usually have heard if there was a Lotto win in the local shop but with the snow last week, we didn’t even think about checking the ticket until now.”
The winning Quick Pick ticket was sold at the Centrepoint Store in the Donaghmede Shopping Centre in Dublin 13.
The family man said that, while the €250,000 Lotto prize is not an astronomical sum, it will have a life-changing effect on his family.
He said: “That’s the mortgage taken care of anyway and the rest of the money will be put towards the children’s education.
"Knowing that we don’t ever have to make a mortgage payment for the rest of our lives is a beautiful feeling. It feels like this is the first day of the rest of our lives and we’re going to enjoy it."
Also through the doors of the National Lottery today was a Tipperary woman who won the top prize of €50,000 on a €5 BingoTimes 10 scratch card.
The woman, who was joined by her husband, has promised to upgrade her car and make some home improvements with her winnings.
The winning scratch card was bought at Sheedy’s Centra Store in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary.
