Local couple collects €62,000 Euromillions prize

A Westmeath couple is celebrating this week after a ticket purchased in Athlone won them €61,965 by matching five numbers in Tuesday's EuroMillions main draw.

The couple, who wish to remain private, bought their Quick Pick ticket at Monksland Service Station in Baylough, Athlone. They collected their cheque at National Lottery headquarters in Dublin today (Thursday).

The couple said they only became aware of their good fortune after hearing a radio report about a winning ticket that was sold locally.

'I had heard on the local radio station that there had been a winner in the same shop I had bought my ticket in but I still didn’t think it would be us,' said the man.

'Last week, I downloaded the National Lottery App on my phone so I sat down with a cup of tea and I started scanning through all of my tickets from the past few weeks. All of a sudden, I got a beep on my phone and it told me to contact National Lottery Headquarters! That’s when I knew I had a winner!' he laughed.

Discussing their plans for their winnings, the couple said they would be 'sensible' with the windfall.

'This win has come completely out of the blue, but the timing could not be any more perfect. There is so much we need to do in terms of home improvements which we have been putting off until we could afford it.

'We are going to be very sensible with our winnings and use the money to firstly pay off our bills and then we will start work on our home renovations,' they said.