Time running out if holders are to claim Lotto prizes

THERE aren’t too many people going around these days with cheques capable of buying a condo to give away.

But that's what models Vivienne Connolly and Martha Christie were sporting yesterday at the headquarters of the National Lottery.

It was all by way of drawing attention to a pair of unclaimed prizes which are burning sizeable holes in the Lotto vaults in Dublin.

Time is fast running out for the holders of two winning tickets, one for a jackpot of €1 million and the second for a Lotto Plus prize of €300,000, both proceeds of a Lotto draw held just before Christmas.

The winners have only until close of business 5.30pm today to pick up their prizes when the usual 90-day deadline for claims expires.

The last time a jackpot almost went unclaimed was for €1,639,685. That prize deadline was due to expire on December 17. However, the holders of the ticket managed to get to Lottery head office in Dublin with only 90 minutes to go to the deadline.

"That was amazing," said Paula McEvoy of the National Lottery. "It was the closest someone every came to missing out."

No one has ever sought to claim a jackpot prize after the deadline, she said. "For most people 90 days is plenty of time to make a claim."

The unclaimed tickets are winners from the draws of Saturday December 21 last, the weekend before Christmas, and were most likely bought as a seasonal gift or in the hope of a yuletide stroke of good fortune.

If neither holder claims their prize, they can forget about a late Christmas. The total prize money of €1.3 million will go into the Lotto's Unclaimed Prize Fund which will be transferred back to players in the form of jackpot promotions during the year.

The outstanding Lotto jackpot €1 million ticket was bought in the Centra Foodmarket, Ballinteer Road, Dublin, on December 10. It was a 36 multi-draw ticket valid for four draws.

The winning €300,000 Lotto Plus ticket was purchased in the post office, Fethard, Co Tipperary. It was sold on the day of a draw and was a 6 normal play.

The largest Lotto Jackpot to go unclaimed was for a prize of €3,445,223 in June 2001.

The unclaimed ticket numbers are: Jackpot 1,7,8,11,12,19.

Lotto Plus 7,25,28,29,32,41.