No winner of Saturday’s Lotto jackpot conducted off air after ‘technical issue’

Two-minute sequence of lotto draws was pulled after Lotto Plus One machine started up early

The National Lottery has said there was no winner of Saturday’s Lotto Jackpot Photograph: Cyril Byrne

The National Lottery has said there was no winner of Saturday’s Lotto Jackpot which was conducted off-air after a “technical issue” arose with the usual live-television broadcast.

The National Lottery stressed there was “no issue with either the integrity of the draw or the numbers drawn” and a spokesman said while the jackpot, Lotto Plus One and Lotto Plus Two games were conducted off air, recording continued and they might be broadcast later. However, they were not broadcasted on Sunday.

What the National Lottery described as “a minor technical issue” arose when the Lotto Plus 1 draw machine began selecting balls earlier than it should have done. This had happened only once before, in 2014, and a protocol had been developed that when a technical event occurs, the recording of the draw continues but the live TV broadcast is halted.

A spokesman said the National Lottery has a limited time of about two minutes on air and any upset to the sequence of draws could result in a draw not being completely broadcast. The spokesman said the draws continued to be independently observed by consultants KPMG.

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“The balls originally selected by the Lotto Plus 1 machine are final. The Lotto and Lotto Plus 2 draws were then conducted off air. Results of all draws are published on www.lottery.ie” the spokesman said.

He said the National Lottery were talking to RTÉ about the possibility of broadcasting the draws at another time.

The spokesman said there were no winners of the jackpot prize of €2,704,266. The winning numbers were 08; 12; 16; 20; 26; and 35. The bonus number was 23. A total of 15 match five winners each receive €1,916.

The winning numbers of the Lotto Plus One game were 06; 07; 08; 16; 30; 41. The bonus number was 26. There was no winner of the top prize of €1 million. A total of 16 match five winners each receive €500.

The winning numbers for the Lotto Plus Two game were 06; 19; 30; 31; 34 and 46. The bonus number was 20. The top prize of €250,000 was not won. One willer of match five plus bonus number wins €2,500.

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien

Tim O'Brien is an Irish Times journalist