THE Northside of Dublin is the luckiest area in the country in which to purchase a EuroMillions lottery ticket.
That would appear to be the case after a local shop sold the winning €175 million jackpot ticket.
Since the EuroMillions game was launched in Ireland in 2004, there have been four winning tickets sold on the Northside of the city with an incredible €395.4 million amassed in prize money.
Last week staff at Reilly’s Daybreak in Naul, north county Dublin, celebrated selling the winning ticket which yielded Ireland’s highest ever National Lottery winner.
The first mega pot of gold for the Northside area came in June 2013, when a winning ticket, which was sold in Beaumont, shared a EuroMillions jackpot worth over €187 million. A Dublin player earned half of the jackpot and picked up over €93 million.
Then in January 2017 a Dublin work syndicate claimed the €88.5 million EuroMillions jackpot, after the winning ticket was sold at the Applegreen Service Station on the M1 Northbound in Lusk.
And in December 2017, a small family syndicate from Dublin won €38.9 million on a ticket purchased in The Village Shop in Malahide Shopping Centre.
Owner of Reilly’s Daybreak, Les Reilly, said staff and members of the community were very excited by the news but he does not remember selling the winning ticket.
“The whole village is buzzing, never mind the shop,” said Mr Reilly.
“It’s a small village. When something like this happens, it’s like a dream. We are on the champagne, and people are coming in to congratulate us. The community is out and congratulating the winning people too.
“I don’t remember exactly when (we sold the ticket), because we sell an awful lot of lotto. So it’s an open book.”
A National Lottery spokesperson said: “This is fantastic news not only for the winner but for the lucky shop that sold the ticket. And we are delighted for Naul which is a small community.”
Meanwhile, National Lottery chief Dermot Griffin congratulated Reilly’s Daybreak on selling the dream ticket.
“This is an incredible win for an Irish EuroMillions player and a record win for the National Lottery,” he said. “It is also a great day for the lucky shop that sold the golden ticket, congrats to all.
“This has been an incredibly lucky period for players on the island of Ireland.
“In January a Northern Ireland couple won an amazing €127 million in the EuroMillions jackpot. The luck of the Irish is definitely in the air.”
The record-breaking win eclipses the €115 million won by Dolores McNamara in July 2005.
