Tullamore's mystery €1m lotto winner finally claims prize

Not even an American presidential visit stopped a Tullamore man from picking up €1m lotto winnings last Monday, despite winning way back on Easter Monday. The lucky Millionaire Raffle ticket was bought in Leavy's Centre on O'Carroll Street in Tullamore on February 25. Since the draw on Easter Monday everyone has been on the hunt for winning ticket 034 361. The self-confessed disorganised winner, who has chosen to remain anonymous, admits he only saw the lotto ticket when he was searching for his credit card before going out for dinner. "I thought that I'd bought a ticket for the Raffle draw, but I am a bit disorganised when it comes to checking things and so, as time wore on, and I hadn't discovered a ticket anywhere, I had kind of convinced myself that I hadn't bought a ticket at all. Then last Friday evening, I was heading out to dinner with a good friend whom I hadn't seen in a while, and so I went searching for my credit card. I went out to the car, and pulled out a load of Lottery tickets that I hadn't checked, but still no credit card. I put all the tickets on the car seat and then spotted one right at the bottom. It was folded in two, and I opened it, and smoothed it out so that I could check it with the rest of them later on. When I saw that it was a Millionaire Raffle ticket, the numbers 034 361 just jumped out at me, like they were embedded in my head." His friend quickly checked the ticket using his iPhone and confirmed his suspicions. "There it was," the winner said, "no credit card but I had a ticket worth a million euro!" Not taking any chances, the Tullamore winner put his winning ticket in tin foil and stored it in a metal juicer in the kitchen over the weekend until National Lottery Offices opened on Monday morning. "I was terrified the house would go up in flames when I went out," he laughed last Monday. Plans for the winner now include paying off home and car loans, as well as looking after family and friends. After missing out on President Obama's visit to Offaly in order to pick up his winnings, he thinks he might even take a trip Stateside. "Because of the day that's in it, I'll have to make a trip to the States. And if I'm passing the White House, I'll definitely raise a glass and say 'I certainly remember the day you came to town: so far, President Obama, it's been the best day of my life!'"