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Irish Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
History of the Lotto in Ireland after €250m claimed in historic EuroMillions win
From the days of the sweepstakes up to the EuroMillions and online tickets, the lottery has had a firm hold on Irish society. As a lucky player in Cork scooped a massive €250 million in the EuroMillions on Tuesday, we take a look back at the history of the Lotto in Ireland. While the saying "the luck of the Irish" rings true for thousands of winners, the lottery hasn't been all fun and games in this country. There were scandals, a gameshow, a winning accountant that forced the rules to be changed, and the hilarious movie about the Irish Lotto - Waking Ned. In the 1930s, following the Civil War, Ireland was in a great depression, and funding was badly needed for hospitals. So the Irish Hospital Sweepstakes lottery (known as 'the sweeps') was established as it promised to raise much needed money for hospitals. Despite such lotteries being illegal in most jurisdictions, tickets were taking in millions and millions of pounds. While it promised to do good, the sweeps turned into one of the country's greatest scandals. In 1973, it emerged that only 10 per cent of the money raised was given to hospitals, as the founders of the lottery became rich. People were fooled into thinking it was an honest operation as it was associated with the Government and gardaí were in charge of tickets. However, it was far from that. On top of hospitals only receiving a small portion of profits, the sweeps involved worldwide ticket-smuggling, tickets sold abroad that never made it back to Ireland, and tickets that never even made it into the drum. Over a decade after the scandal broke, The National Lottery, which we know today, began in 1987 and the first draw took place on Saturday April 16, 1988. Two years later a draw was also added on a Wednesday. When the lottery first launched, players chose six numbers from a choice of 36. However, this didn't last long as Dubliner, Polish-Irish accountant Stefan Klincewicz, figured out how to hack the game. For a draw in May 1992, the accountant - as part of a 28-person syndicate - bought enough tickets covering all the different combinations. They matched the winning numbers and ended up winning £1.16 million. The National Lottery caught on to their game and changed the format to 6/39 in August 1992. It also added the bonus ball to create more prizes. Its very first draw was broadcast on RTÉ One, and it was presented by Ronan Collins and an independent observer. But just two years later it was decided that a show with more glitz and glam was needed, so Winning Streak was born. It first aired with Mike Murphy as the presenter, and it would go on to become one of the longest-running game shows in Europe. Marty Whelan then took over in 2009 and presented the show right up until 2020. It came off air when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and hasn't come back since. However, broadcaster Marty says he would love to present the show again as it brought so much joy to households across Ireland. In 2004, the EuroMillions launched in Ireland as lotto players rejoiced that even more money could be won. A year later, Dolores McNamara became the country's first big winner when she scooped €115.4m, and has arguably remained Ireland's most well-known lotto winner. She was also the biggest EuroMillions winner at the time. The mother-of-six from Limerick discovered her historic win while in her local pub, the Track Bar. After her friend checked her ticket, a barmaid said the pub erupted in cheers and the "drink started flowing and the champagne was poured". Media attention followed her as she arrived at Lotto HQ on August 4, 2005, to collect her massive cheque. However, the millionaire became nervous with the fanfare and released a statement through her solicitor as she wanted to "return to normality as soon as possible". Since Dolores' win, there have been 18 EuroMillions wins in Ireland, however, no one other than Dolores went public with their win. One of the biggest wins was by The Naul Family Syndicate in February 2019, when they won €175.4 million. While they didn't officially go public, one of the nine winners spoke out after the €250m win on Tuesday night. Matt Rogers, who pocketed almost €20m, gave Ireland's newest millionaire some advice: "Don't let it change you". The Lotto has had such a hold on Irish society that in 1998 a fictionalised story about a man who won it was released. Waking Ned, which starred the late David Kelly, told the story of Ned Devine- a man who had a heart attack and died after the shock of winning the big bucks. The movie then follows the hilarious extremes the village goes to to try and claim his prize, as they decide it should be done in his honour.
Irish Daily Mirror
15 hours ago
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
New details confirmed about shop that sold winning €250m EuroMillions ticket
The National Lottery has revealed new details about the shop which sold this week's historic EuroMillions ticket which is now worth a jaw-dropping €250 million. A lucky Irish Lotto player bagged the life-changing prize after matching five numbers plus two lucky stars in Tuesday's draw to become the 18th Irish winner of the EuroMillions jackpot since the lottery started in 2004, and also the National Lottery's 13th millionaire of 2025. The lucky ticketholder now takes the title of Ireland biggest ever Lotto winner, surpassing the €175.4 Million EuroMillions jackpot won by a family syndicate in the Naul in Dublin in 2019, and becomes just the 18th Irish EuroMillions jackpot winner in history. The National Lottery have been slowly drip-feeding information about the shop which sold the winning ticket over the past few days, first revealing that Ireland's newest millionaire purchased the lucky stub from a store in the Munster region. Earlier today, it was revealed that the shop which sold the €250 million-winning ticket was based in Cork, with Lotto bosses now confirmed that the retail store is located in Cork City Centre. The exact location of the history-making shop will be revealed on Friday morning, with a large celebration set to take place at the premises. It was also confirmed on Thursday that the €250 million ticketholder has made contact with the National Lottery Prize Claims team. The contact came after days of speculation as to who the winner of the life-changing amount is. Emma Monaghan, spokesperson for the National Lottery, said: "We are absolutely thrilled to have heard from our EuroMillions winner. "At this point, our priority is to give them the necessary time and space to make arrangements and let this life-changing news sink in."
Irish Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
Shop that sold ticket for life-changing EuroMillions Plus jackpot win confirmed
Celebrations are well underway following an historic night for Irish Lotto players. One Irish EuroMillions player made history as they become the highest ever winner of an Irish National Lottery game after winning a mind-blowing €250 million jackpot in Tuesday's draw. This historic win marks a new milestone for the Irish National Lottery, setting the record for the largest prize ever claimed in the country. The previous record stood at €175 million, won in February 2019, with a ticket sold at Reilly's Daybreak in The Naul, Co. Dublin. However, the jackpot winner wasn't the only Irish player to bag a life-changing prize last night, as another lucky punter scooped a huge six-figure sum in Tuesday's EuroMillions Plus draw. The Irish player matched all five winning numbers to secure the top prize of €500,000 in last night's draw, with the National Lottery previously revealing that the lucky ticketholder hails from Co Wexford. Lotto bosses have now confirmed that the Plus player purchased their Quick Pick ticket on the day of the draw, from Selskar Bookshop, Townparks, Co Wexford. The numbers for last night's EuroMillions Plus draw were: 11, 19, 30, 39 and 50. EuroMillions players in Wicklow are now being urged to check their tickets to see if they have won the life-changing prize Players are reminded that all National Lottery prizes must be claimed within 90 days of the draw date. The EuroMillions Plus jackpot winner is encouraged to sign the back of their ticket and contact the National Lottery immediately at 1800 666 222 or email claims@ Meanwhile, The National Lottery has officially confirmed that the winning ticket for last night's jaw-dropping €250m EuroMillions jackpot was purchased in-store in the Munster region. Emma Monaghan, spokesperson for the National Lottery, said: 'What a night for our EuroMillions players. Not only did we see 92,000 players in Ireland win prizes, including our top prize in EuroMillions Plus, but we also saw the historic jackpot being won by an Irish player. "We are continuing to advise all EuroMillions players in the Munster region to check their tickets very carefully to see if they have landed this mega windfall. We're looking forward to sharing more details about the win in the coming days!'
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
What we know about how winning the EuroMillions changes your life
Analysis: winning money in the lottery has an effect on who we are, how we spend our money and what we want to do with our lives By Nattavudh Powdthavee, University of Warwick Most of us have dreamt about winning big in the lottery – I know I have. This dream recently came true for a ticket-holder in Ireland, who has just won the record €250 million EuroMillions jackpot. A sudden income of €250 million would no doubt be life-changing. But what do we actually know about the effects of lottery wins on our lives? Will being a jackpot winner make us happy now, or in the future? I've spent my career researching how our happiness and wellbeing can be affected by life changes, decisions and luck – including the lottery. Here's what I've learned about how winning the lottery can potentially change people's lives. From RTÉ Six One News, the Irish Lotto jackpot has reached €19 million Winning a moderate amount of money in the lottery has an effect on who we are, how we spend our money and what we want to do with our lives. In various studies, my colleagues and I have found that winning at least €500 in the National Lottery makes people significantly more right-wing and less egalitarian, more likely to switch to private health insurance and to become self-employed. Evidence on whether winning the lottery makes you happy is somewhat mixed. Using a British sample of over 16,000 lottery winners with an average win of several thousand pounds, economists Andrew Oswald and Jonathan Gardner, and later economists Benedicte Apouey and Andrew Clark, reported large and positive effects of wealth on winners' mental health appearing two years after the win. However, a more recent study of the Dutch Postcode Lottery focusing on a larger lottery win of a median US$22,500 (€19,325) albeit with a smaller sample size of winners to the British study (223 people) found little evidence that lottery wins affected people's happiness in a statistically significant way. Winning big Most of these previous studies have looked at the effects of winning several thousand dollars in the lottery – but what about the massive winners? Until recently, we did not have many observations of big lottery winners to conduct a meaningful study of the effects. People who win more than US$100,000 (€85,855) in the lottery do not typically feature in nationally representative household surveys as there are so few of them in any randomly selected household. This also means that any previous studies that tried to estimate the psychological impacts of large lottery wins would have too small a sample size to make any statistical findings conclusive. From RTÉ Radio 1's Ray D'Arcy Show, an interview with former Lotto jackpot winner Pat Broderick who won €7 million in 2011 In an attempt to settle this issue once and for all, three economists – Erik Lindqvist, Robert Östling, and David Cesarini – have conducted one of the largest studies to date of the long term effects of big lottery wins on psychological wellbeing. With an average win of US$106,000 (€85,877) and a sample size of more than 2,500 winners in the Swedish Lottery, they found big winners' overall life satisfaction to be significantly higher than that of small winners and non-winners with similar characteristics. This persists more than five years after the win. Life satisfaction is a measure of evaluative wellbeing – the overall evaluation of how one views one's life. This is distinct from experienced wellbeing – the positive emotions that we experience day-to-day. The Swedish study found little evidence that winning a large amount of money in the lottery had any significant impact on winners' happiness, which is a measure of experienced wellbeing. They also found winning big in the lottery does not substantially improve people's current mental health. From RTÉ Archives, Gerry Reynolds reports for RTÉ News on the introduction of a new National Lottery game in 1987. Includes Bertie Ahern, Charles Haughey, Gay Byrne and others saying how they would spend the money if they won the lottery This is consistent with a study by Nobel prize-winning economists Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, which showed that beyond a US$75,000 (€64,414) threshold, measures of evaluative wellbeing continue to rise with income whereas measures of experienced wellbeing, like happiness and mental health, do not. Furthermore, there was no evidence in the Swedish lottery study that a US$100,000 (€85,855) win significantly improved people's satisfaction with their health, relationship, housing, neighbourhood and society. The evidence from these studies suggests that winning the EuroMillions jackpot would significantly and sustainably improve the way we think about our finances and how our lives turn out in the long run, but it is less likely to make our day-to-day life feel more enjoyable. For most of us, our dreams of winning big in the lottery will never materialise. But just buying a ticket can give us a warm, thrilling feeling of anticipation while we wait for the lucky numbers to be drawn. Psychologists call this the "let me dream on" effect. That reason alone might be good enough for us to keep playing.
Extra.ie
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Where is Dolores McNamara now? Ireland's most famous Lotto winner
Yet another lucky Irish Lotto player has been inducted into the EuroMillions hall of fame this week. On Tuesday night, as the staggering €250m EuroMillions jackpot was won on our shores, creating a brand new Irish millionaire. The winning numbers were 13, 22, 23, 44, 49, with lucky star numbers of 3 and 5. Dolores McNamara. Pic: Colin Keegan/Collins Photos The jackpot represents the biggest EuroMillions win in the history of the draw. The win eclipsed the previous top prize of a jaw-dropping €175.4 million, claimed by a family syndicate from Naul, Dublin in February, 2019. The big win has us taking a walk down memory lane, looking back on the most famous lotto winner and record holder for years, Dolores McNamara. The Limerick native was the talk of the nation on August 4 2005 when she arrived at Lotto HQ to collect a cheque for the biggest lotto jackpot in European history. Dolores McNamara arriving to pick up her cheque from Lotto HQ in 2005. Pic: Collins Dublin The now 65-year-old had previously found out she scooped €115m in the Euromillions on Friday, July 30. The €115m jackpot win was making headlines nationwide, with many eager to catch a glimpse of the lucky recipient. However, the fanfare had Dolores nervous, with the new millionaire deciding to forego the press and instead releasing a statement through her solicitor. In the statement, he spoke about her 'desire to return to normality as soon as possible.' He said: 'She is absolutely determined that her feet and the feet of her family, will remain firmly on the ground.' Dolores McNamara with National Lottery director Ray Bates in 2005. Pic: Photocall Ireland The story behind how Dolores discovered her win is very much one for the ages, as she made the revelation in her local pub, the Track Bar. The Limerick native asked her friend to check her ticket, as the draw played out on the grainy pub tv set. A barmaid at the bar described the scenes following the win: 'Then the drink started flowing and the champagne was poured and we had a great night celebrating. Dolores is a real nice woman and none of her friends believe this will change her drastically.' Her win made her the 58th richest person in Ireland at the time, with it being estimated that Dolores would earn up to €3 million a year in interest alone. Dolores McNamara with her cheque Pic: Colin Keegan/Collins Photos How did she spend her winnings you ask? Well her first port of call was to purchase Lough Derg Hall, an expansive home estimated at €1.7million. Dolores additionally purchased houses in and around the area for her six children, Dawn, Gary, Kim, Kevanne, Dean, and Lee. In 2012, the family bought Tinarana House, a luxury lakeside estate, for a reported €3.46 million. These days, Dolores is a grandmother of nine and lives a quiet life outside of the public eye. The millionaire has only ever spoken once publicly since her enormous €115 million win, having given an interview to her local paper, the Limerick Leader. She told the paper: 'The question that has been asked of me most frequently was how I felt about my win and my answer is still the same – I feel disbelief and shock. 'Buying a ticket for that Euro jackpot was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I'd actually gone into the shop to buy a top-up for my phone and just asked the lady for a Lotto ticket.'
