The chief executive of the National Lottery is advising the winner (or winners) of the €175m EuroMillions jackpot to sign the back of the ticket, sit back, take a deep breath and to take their time before making any decisions.
Dermot Griffin told RTE that the National Lottery will not reveal the location of the retail outlet where the winning ticket was purchased for a few days.
The reason for this is to allow the winner “to go about their business” without media focus.
“It will take time for this to sink in. They need to take their time and stay calm.”
He said that the National Lottery can assist with advice and can outline the advantages and disadvantages of “going public”.
It will take a week for the €175m jackpot to be gathered from around Europe, he added.
Mr Griffin said it is always beneficial for winners to get professional advice on trusts and how best to cope with such a windfall. “We’ve been through this 14 times before.”
Irish winners always have favourite charities they want to support, along with family and friends. “Generations to come will be supported by a win like this.”
The winning numbers were 1, 8, 18, 19 and 39. The lucky stars were 7 and 9.
This is the 14th Irish EuroMillions win since the game was launched in Ireland in 2004.
- July 2005: Dolores McNamara from Limerick, was Ireland’s first and biggest EuroMillions winner scooping over €115 million.
- July 2008: A lucky player from Co. Tipperary won a €15 million jackpot with a ticket bought in Carrick-on-Suir in Co. Tipperary.
- June 2009: A family syndicate shared the jackpot with a British winner, taking home over €29.4 million with a ticket they purchased in Dublin.
- June 2013: A winning ticket sold in Beaumount, Dublin, shared a EuroMillions jackpot worth over €187 million. A Dublin player earned half of the jackpot and picked up over €93 million.
- September 2013: A young man from the South East shared a jackpot of over €25 million with a player in Spain, taking home over €12.8 million.
- April 2014: A jackpot prize worth €15 million was claimed on a ticket sold in Castlebar, Co. Mayo.
- September 2014: An €86.7 million jackpot was won by a syndicate from Dublin. The ticket was sold in Centra, Ballybrack, Co. Dublin.
- January 2016: A syndicate of friends won over €66 million, splitting the jackpot of €132,376,632. The ticket was sold in Eason’s store, Fairgreen Shopping Centre, Carlow.
- July 2016: 22 colleagues from Dublin Bus won the €23.8 million. The ticket was sold in O’Hanlon’s Portarlington.
- January 2017: A Dublin work syndicate claimed the €88.5 million EuroMillions jackpot. The winning ticket was sold at the Applegreen Service Station on the M1 Northbound in Lusk, Co. Dublin.
- July 2017: A syndicate from the West of Ireland won a €29 million EuroMillions jackpot. The ticket was sold in Garryduff XL Store on Pound Road, Castlebar in Co. Mayo.
- December 2017: A small family syndicate from Dublin won €38.9 million on a ticket purchased in The Village Shop in Malahide Shopping Centre
- June 2018: 32 colleagues from Stakelums Hardware store in Thurles Co. Tipperary share a €17 million EuroMillions jackpot with a ticket they purchased at Eason’s Store in Thurles Shopping Centre in Co. Tipperary.
- February 2019: Single winner of EuroMillions. Location to be disclosed
