THE IRISH LOTTO jackpot has finally been won after seven months, with one player from Co. Mayo scooping the record €19,060,800 prize.
'Will be Won' plans were in place to ensure the jackpot was claimed this weekend, with the money flowing down to the winners in the next prize tier if no one secured the prize outright.
However, the plans proved unnecessary as one ticket matched all six numbers to take the jackpot.
The top prize was last won on June 5, 2021 when it totalled €2.475m and has rolled over ever since, being capped at €19.06m on October 2, 2021.
'Astonishing'
After Saturday's draw, a National Lottery spokesperson described the seven months of rollovers as 'astonishing'.
"Last night's Lotto draw was truly monumental in the history of the National Lottery," said the spokesperson.
"After rolling for an astonishing seven months, the largest Lotto jackpot ever seen in the history of the game has officially been won."
The winning ticket of last night’s incredible #Lotto Jackpot was sold in Mayo! 🎉#ItCouldBeYou
— The Irish National Lottery (@NationalLottery) January 16, 2022
The wait for a jackpot win had prompted calls for an investigation, which were backed by Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan had led the calls, criticising the gradual increase in the number of balls from 36 to 47 between 1988 and 2015.
"The prospect of winning is so remote that punters must be thinking Shergar would have a better chance at winning Squid Game," said Mr Durkan in November.
'Life-altering amount'
The 'Will be Won' draw had generated huge interest, with the National Lottery website experiencing technical issues due to high traffic and the organisation warning of queues to buy tickets in stores.
However they said they were glad the jackpot was won 'the natural way'.
"The €19.06m was won in the natural way as the winning ticket holder matched all six numbers which meant that the 'Will be Won' mechanism was not needed," said the spokesperson.
"If no player had matched all six numbers in last night's draw, the entire jackpot prize fund would have flowed down to the next winning tier instead.
"We are urging all of our Lotto players in Mayo to carefully check their tickets today as one player now has a ticket worth a truly life-altering amount."
Another 149 players matched five numbers and the bonus ball in the main draw to share almost €5.5m, with each receiving €36,687.
Meanwhile, a Kilkenny player became the first Lotto Plus 2 winner of 2022 after winning the top prize of €250,000.
