Two women have picked up a combined €324,421 in EuroMillions and Millionaire Raffle prizes today.
First through the doors of National Lottery HQ today was a Dublin woman who claimed a €224,421 EuroMillions prize which she won in last Friday’s draw.
The Dubliner matched five numbers and one lucky star, narrowly missing out on the €64,992,459 EuroMillions jackpot on offer.
She bought her Quick Pick ticket through the National Lottery App and dismissed any notions of regret at missing out on the jackpot.
She said: “What a way to start the year. Instead of facing into a dreary January when you’re constantly checking your bank balance, I can relax knowing that I have over two hundred thousand in the bank.
"I got an email shortly after the draw and I nearly hit the floor when I saw how much I had won.
Amazingly, when I told my family, one of them actually said, ‘aw – and you were so close to the €65 million.’ I’m not one bit envious of being so close to the jackpot because I know how lucky I am and I know how much good I can do with this money.
She revealed that she wants "to do incredible things with it", such as giving to good causes.
She said: "After I have paid off a couple of my own bills, I have plans to donate a good amount of it to a charity which is very close to my heart.
"There is no greater feeling in the world than making a real difference to people’s lives and I know that this money will go a long way to helping so many.”
Afterwards, a Kerry woman was joined in the National Lottery winners’ room by her entire family as she collected a €100,000 prize which she won on the Christmas Millionaire Raffle draw.
She told how her mother and father gifted their entire family Christmas Millionaire Raffle tickets and she was fortunate that she found the winning ticket worth €100,000 in her stocking on Christmas morning.
The €100,000 winning Millionaire Raffle ticket was sold at the Gala store in Fenit in Co. Kerry.
She said: “It’s definitely the best Christmas present I’ve ever got. My mam and dad bought everybody in the family a Millionaire Raffle ticket for Christmas so when word got out that the local shop in Fenit sold the winning ticket, there was a frantic search to see if one of us had the lucky ticket.
"One by one, the texts came through from my brothers and sisters to say that they weren’t the winners.
I was the last to check my ticket and when I sent the text through to tell them the good news, they flat out refused to believe me.
"They all had to come up with me to Lotto HQ to see me picking up the cheque with their own eyes.
“This prize is absolutely huge to me. For the most part, I’m going to be sensible and take a big chunk off my mortgage but I’m also going to make sure that I enjoy it a little bit and plans are already underway to celebrate the win with a new car and a sun holiday in the next couple of weeks,” she added.
