Three players have claimed €443,212 in EuroMillions prizes at National Lottery headquarters today.
The biggest winner of the day was a Dublin man who claimed a €233,212 EuroMillions Match 5+ Lucky Star prize which he won online from last Tuesday’s draw.
The Dubliner described how he would be able to change his family’s lives with his €233,212 windfall.
He said: “I would never see this amount of money in my bank account in a lifetime, it really is a dream come true.
"Even before this win, we had discussed renovating the family home and insulating it before the winter properly kicks-in but we never had the money to do it.
"I’ll be ringing around the builders on Monday morning to see if they can get all of the work done before Christmas.”
He described the moment he received a notification on his phone to alert him to his win.
He said: “I play EuroMillions on my phone all of the time so I’m used to getting a message every now and again to say that I’ve won a prize.
"I opened up my messages, half expecting to see that I’d maybe won €10 but my jaw absolutely hit the floor when I’d seen it was over €200,000."
"All of the family were screaming and shouting with the excitement so I’m sure the neighbours must think we’re absolutely mad.”
Also collecting a EuroMillions prize today was a grandmother from Co. Louth who was one of 10 winners of a €105,000 EuroMillions ‘Ireland Only Raffle’ prize from Friday, October 26.
She had bought her Quick Pick ticket at the Tesco store on the Donore Road in Drogheda, Co. Louth, and was joined by her extended family in the National Lottery winners’ room today.
She said: “It’s a proper family occasion that we will remember forever, we had to bring the whole family because you never know when we’ll be here again.
“I had no idea that there was a special raffle that night. When I checked the ticket on the scanner in the local shop, it told me to contact the National Lottery but I knew that I hadn’t won a prize on the main draw because my numbers didn’t come up.
"It was only when I called up I was told that I’d won €105,000, I was absolutely speechless.”
The Louth woman purposely took a number of days to collect her prize to fully allow her to plan for her big win.
She said: “We’ve had a few days to talk through how we’re going to spend the money and we’ve decided to put a lot of it away for the children and grandkids.
"We also have to get some much-needed work done to our house so it really is a blessing.
"We’ll enjoy the win tonight in the local pub with family and friends who have been so supportive to us all week.”
The final big winner of the day was a married couple from Dublin who claimed another of last Friday’s EuroMillions ‘Ireland Only Raffle’ prizes of €105,000.
The husband described how he risked the wrath of his wife as he roared with sheer excitement while checking his ticket before he went to work on the Saturday morning after the draw.
He said: “My wife was still in bed sleeping and I checked the ticket on my phone before I headed out the door to work. She came thundering down the stairs and before I let her give out to me for waking her, I told her that we’d won €100,000.
"Thankfully I didn’t let her speak first because god knows what she might have said.”
Plans for the €150,000 EuroMillions windfall have already been made with mortgage repayments and a family holiday taking priority.
He said: “We have a small family and a mortgage so we’ll have no trouble spending it. We’ll indulge in a family break in the sun over the Christmas period but other than that we will be sensible and put the money to good use.”
