Postman Pot: The €6.9m delivery
Ever hear the story about the lotto winner who received almost €7m through the post? That’s exactly how Cork’s newest millionaire will receive their €6.9m cheque, thanks to Covid-19 measures.
It was confirmed this week that the winning ticket for last Saturday’s Lotto jackpot, worth €6,933,904, was sold at the family-owned Circle K service station in Togher. It is not yet known if the winner, who came forward on Monday, is a single ticket holder or a syndicate winner.
Normally, any prize exceeding €15,000 (or €10,000 for online winners) requires winners to come to National Lottery headquarters in Dublin to claim their prize. However, in light of Covid-19 restrictions, Premier Lotteries Ireland, in agreement with the Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery, has addressed this by agreeing to temporarily amend the National Lottery licence and the game rules to allow winners to avail of an approved postal claims process.
Last week, a Kerry family who won a massive €9.7m fortune in April became the first ever Lotto jackpot winners to avail of the new postal claims process, and now it’s Cork’s turn!
Socially distanced celebrations have been taking place at the station across the week with owner of the winning store, Noel Murphy, heralding the win as a tremendous boost to a community which has strongly come together during the current pandemic.
“I have been absolutely bursting to share this amazing news. Anybody who knows the area surrounding Togher will know what a fantastic community we have here. Especially over the last number of months, we have been reminded of that great community spirit that we have and knowing that one of these people has won almost €7 million is truly heart-warming. I have absolutely no idea who the winner is, whether it is a syndicate or a lucky single winner. Whoever it is, we wish them all the best of luck with their new found fortune and I hope they enjoy it,” he said.
The joyous businessman, who opened the station in 1995, said that he had some suspicions that his store may have been the lucky selling agent for the life-changing €6.9 million prize following local rumours but didn’t allow himself to even dream about the win until he received official notification from the National Lottery.
“Funnily enough, there were rumours swirling around the area on Sunday that we sold the winning jackpot ticket but I assured everybody that I would be the first to know, apart from the winner of course! I am lucky to have some of the hardest working staff you could hope for, so once restrictions are lifted and our lives return to some form of normality, the entire store will be enjoying a night out on me to celebrate the win,” he added.