Identity of €4m jackpot winner a mystery

A cheque for a cool €4,018,495 is waiting to be claimed at National Lottery Headquarters this week after the sole winning ticket in last Saturday's lotto jackpot draw was sold in Eason's shop, Athlone. The news that Athlone is harbouring yet another Lotto millionaire has sent the rumour mill and speculation into overdrive as a number of names have been bandied about as the possible lucky winners since the news first emerged on Sunday. Manager of Eason's outlet in Athlone Towncentre, Christine Cawley, said the win is proving to be a big talking point among staff, customers and around the town in general but they have no idea who it might be, laughing that she would be quite happy with a small portion of the cheque! “It's certainly putting a smile on people's faces,†she enthused. “It's great, I'm hope one of our regular players has won it and it stays local. It was a €6 euro quick pick ticket so it was probably an individual rather than a syndicate, but we also get a lot of passers by playing as well,†she told the Westmeath Independent yesterday (Tuesday). “We haven't a notion who it is, there is a lot of speculation but the only thing we know is that it hasn't been claimed yet,†Ms Cawley added. A National Lottery spokesperson confirmed that the six euro quick pick ticket was sold in Easons Athlone last Thursday, February 3 and was the sole winner of the €4.018 million jackpot. The numbers drawn were 4,5,6,15,20,25 and the bonus number was 19. “It hasn't been claimed yet (Tuesday) but they have 90 days to do so from the date of the draw,†she stated. Athlone is certainly developing a bit of reputation as a place with a ‘lotto' luck in recent times, just last January 30-year-old Michelle Ryan scooped the €7.5 million jackpot after her winning numbers were chosen by her seven-year-old son Dylan and, only two weeks ago an anonymous syndicate claimed a €3.3 million share of the jackpot in Ballinasloe.