Lotto luck running out for holder of €1.6m ticket

TIME is running out for the holder of a €1.6 million Lotto ticket who could miss out on the Christmas of a lifetime.

If the ticket, which was bought in a Dublin newsagents on Tuesday 17 September, is not claimed by next Tuesday, the jackpot will be returned to the prize fund.

"We're praying that the person will find it before the deadline," said Martina Heffernan, owner of Heffernan's newsagents on the Phibsboro Road.

Local customers of the shop have been bombarded with reminders of the magic numbers 4, 6, 18, 31, 39, 42.

"Some of them are probably a bit frightened at the moment because we've told them two or three times," Ms Heffernan said.

But she is convinced that the ticket holder is not a local.

"At this stage, we've told everyone and there's signs all over the shop. We've got a lot of passing trade because there's handy parking outside. People often pop in for small things and we get people looking for directions to the airport. But today is Friday 13 so we're convinced the ticket will turn up," she said.

The jackpot of over €3m was actually shared by two winning tickets. One winner, who wished to remain anonymous, collected his €1.6m share the next day. But the owner of the second ticket has never come forward despite the ticket's high value of 48. It was a 6 Quick Pick valid for eight Lotto draws.

But if the experience of another Dublin newsagent is typical, then the 90-day deadline is likely to pass without a winner.

Last year, the Acorn Newsagent in Coolock sold the winning ticket for a €3.4m jackpot. But it was never claimed, despite extensive publicity.

"A lot of the locals reckoned they'd bought the ticket and then lost it."