Excitement grips town after news of €8m lottery win

Locals in a Clare town were described as being “wild with excitement” following news that Wednesday night’s Lotto jackpot was won in the town.

The €24 mix play that won the €8,302,204 prize was purchased around lunchtime on Saturday in Miniter’s shop at Henry St in Kilrush, Co Clare. The ticket was bought for the Saturday and Wednesday draws. The jackpot had rolled over for six weeks to become the largest Lotto win in Co Clare and the third multimillion-euro win in the county since August.

Shop owner Mary Miniter was contacted by the National Lottery at 7.40am yesterday and was told the winning ticket had been purchased in her shop.

Ms Miniter said: “There is great excitement in the area but still no indication of who it might be. Hopefully it’s some from Kilrush but it could be someone who was passing through. It would be great for the town if it’s a local person or group because they’ll spend their winnings locally.”

There had been speculation the staff at the Billpost facility in Kilrush were the lucky winners, however workers there denied this was true. Staff at the ESB’s power station at Moneypoint near Kilrush were also rumoured to have been the county’s latest millionaires.

It had also been suggested that members of the local fire service has scooped the prize. Firefighters purchased a €24 ticket in Miniter’s on Saturday but they weren’t the lucky ones this time.

One firefighter said: “I wish I could say it was true but believe me, it isn’t.”