Rollover Lotto jackpot to hit €4m tonight
In the face of declining Lotto sales, lottery chiefs will be hoping that the bumper prize will pack customers into the country’s 3,500 Lotto outlets.
Sales last year fell by 5 million, which the National Lottery blamed on confusion over the euro and a reduction in people’s disposable income.
Last week, two winners missed out on €1 million and €300,000 respectively. The 90-day collection deadline expired on Friday without either ticket-holder coming forward. One ticket was bought in Ballinteer, Co Dublin, and the other in the post office in Fethard, Co Tipperary.
“On the weekend it was sold, we had two funerals. One of them was fairly big and I reckon it was someone at the funeral, because there was a lot of strangers at it,” said postmaster Barry Connolly, who received the seller’s fee from the National Lottery.
The money was deposited in the Unclaimed Prize Fund and will be put back in the game, in the form of jackpot promotions, during the year.
The National Lottery is also applying to join a European Super Lottery, which could lead to jackpots of 15 million. The UK's Camelot, Spain’s Loterias y Apuestas de Estado and France’s La Francaise de Jeux plan to open the Euromillions game early next year. However, the National Lottery has warned that with more than 200 million potential European players, there is a slim chance of regular winners from our 3.8 million population.
Last Saturday’s jackpot of €3.39 million was not won, but two friends from Kerry reaped the benefit of a nine-year-old Lotto habit. Patsy Miles and Brigid Foley from Kenmare shared a €300,000 Lotto Plus jackpot.
