Mayo dad has collected his €500,000 EuroMillions cheque

A DELIGHTED Mayo father has claimed the €500,000 EuroMillions Plus top prize won in Castlebar on Tuesday week.

The ticket was bought in eason in the county town and the lucky family, who travelled to the National Lottery's HQ this week, wish to remain private.

They reported they were more than happy that their win went under the radar locally after it was confirmed that the €17 million EuroMillions jackpot was also won in Castlebar that same night.

The lucky ticketholder said: “Castlebar has gone absolutely EuroMillions mad over the past week. The only conversation for the past week is about the €17 million jackpot.

“I don’t think anybody has even mentioned our Plus win of a half million euro and that suits us just fine as we are a very private family and we’d prefer to keep the win to ourselves.

“So many times over the last week, I have heard conversations about the supposed identity of the €17 million jackpot winner and I have to stop myself smiling, knowing that I had a ticket for €500,000 in my pocket.”

The man described the €500,000 prize as the ‘perfect’ amount of money to win and he explained how his family are making plans for their new found fortune:

“Make no mistake about it, this €500,000 prize really is life-changing for my family. While it may not be the mega millions of a €17 million prize, it is still huge for us.

“I have already made arrangements to buy a new home while I will be putting more of the money aside for my children to put deposits on their own mortgages. It will make a huge difference to our lives and we’ll make sure that it will benefit us all for many years to come.”