:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/QXULW6YLC2FXCSCZTPBLLEVKI4.jpg)
Ireland’s newest lottery millionaire has contacted the National Lottery to claim his prize, the organisation said today.
The anonymous winner is from Munster and will claim a prize of €12.8 million , a spokeswoman for the National Lottery said.
The winner matched his numbers in Friday's Euromillions draw and will split the €25.6 million jackpot with a player from Spain.
The winner, who has chosen to remain anonymous, will be able to collect the cheque from Wednesday.
This is the second time in less than three months that a winning ticket was sold in Ireland. In June, a € 93.9 million Euromillions winning ticket was sold at a Mace shop in Beaumont on Dublin's northside. The winner became the 96th richest person in Ireland, sharing the total jackpot of more than €187 million from that draw with a player in Belgium.
His was the fifth Euromillions jackpot win in the State since the game launched in 2004. Dolores McNamara holds the record for the largest ever win, which came in at over €115 million in 2005. In July 2008, a €15 million winning ticket was sold in Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, while a €29.4 million jackpot-winning ticket was sold in Dublin in June 2009.
A Co Kerry man won € 500,000 from Friday’s Euromillions Plus draw. He said he did not sleep a wink all weekend after discovering the news.
“I was watching the Ireland v Sweden match and after the match I decided to check my numbers on Aertel,” he said.
“I double and triple-checked my numbers all night, just in case I left a number out.
“I called my family straight away to let them know the exciting news. I am just so shocked, elated and I still can’t believe it.”
He said he is still undecided about how to spend the €500,000 windfall. “I am not really sure yet, it’s all very surreal,” he said.
“But I would like to pay a few bills and possibly buy a car at some stage.”
PA
* An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed quotes from the Euromillions plus winner to the Euromillions jackpot winner.