Abbeyleix Moran’s hits the jackpot
At Moran's, Abbeyleix where the �8,638,029.00 winning lotto ticket was sold in the Wed 29 August draw, from left: Ann Rice, shop assistant; John Williams, National Lottery local representative; Rebecca Moran, shop proprietor and Ber Hartford, shop assistant. Picture: Alf Harvey.
LAOIS could have a new multi-millionaire and an Abbeyleix newsagents will receive €15,000 from the National Lottery after it sold a lotto jackpot winning ticket worth a whopping €8.6 million.
The €8 QuickPick ticket was purchsed on Friday, August 24 in Moran’s newsagents on the town’s Main Street. It is not yet known whether the winner hails from the midlands or was just passing through the region, but Rebecca Moran, who was working in the family-owned store on the day and who may actually have sold the precious ticket, told the Leinster Express that speculation is rife as to the winner’s identity.
“Before the bypass we would have had a good few people coming in, but now there’s not as much. On a Friday there are a lot of people travelling through, such as holiday makers, but it’s a lot more locals who would buy tickets,” she said.
Rebecca, whose parents Loughlin and Annette own the store, was working on Friday up to 2pm with shop assistant, Laura Thornton, before another assistant, Aideen Phelan, took over from 2pm to 8pm. It is not known which of the girls sold the ticket, but Rebecca said that the win is great news for the shop and for the town in general.
“It’s good publicity. People often come in and ask if we’ve ever sold a winning ticket and it’s great to be able to say we did.”
This is the first time that Moran’s has sold a jackpot ticket, although they did sell a winning ticket worth €250,000 a few years ago. John Williams, a local representative from the National Lottery came to the store on Thursday, August 30, to help the staff erect bunting and balloons to celebrate the news and Moran’s are set to receive a percentage of the winning amount.
“I’m not sure how much, but it won’t be the full €8.6 million,” laughed Rebecca.
The €8,638,029 jackpot is among the top twenty highest ever jackpots. The largest recorded Lotto jackpot win was from June 28, 2008 by the Dan Morrissey syndicate in Carlow, a 16 member group who won €18, 963, 441.
And just in case you haven’t checked your ticket for last Wednesday’s (August 29) lotto, the numbers drawn were 12, 24, 26, 34, 35 & 42 (with 44 being the bonus ball).
If you do happen to discover you’ve the winning ticket, well you’ve 90 days from the day of the draw to claim your prize.
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