A claim that a pub syndicate had won the weekend Lotto jackpot of €6 million has been confirmed as a hoax.
Mystery still surrounds the identity of Ireland’s latest Lotto millionaire or millionaires, who won the €6,158,375 with a €4 Quick Pick ticket.
The winning ticket was bought last Friday afternoon at Kennedy’s Centra Foodmarket in Lahinch, Co Clare.
Champagne
Early on Sunday, a photograph appeared on the Twitter page of Flanagan's pub in Lahinch, showing four people with a large bottle of champagne and holding a Lotto ticket.
However, bar manager Shane Keane has admitted: "The photo was posed, it was a bit of fun."
The owner of the shop that sold the winning ticket, Robert Kennedy, said yesterday: “I doubt we’ll ever know who it is. With the amount of tourists around this month it could be anybody. If it was the middle of winter you might have a better idea and it would more likely be someone local.”
Visitors
The permanent population of Lahinch is approximately 700, but this increases by a factor of at least 10 in the summer months.
This has led local people to believe the winning ticket was bought by someone passing through the popular resort town or someone who was visiting for the weekend.
“I hope it’s someone local, but then again they mightn’t even want to come forward either,” Mr Kennedy added.
It is the first time the store has sold a National Lottery jackpot-winning ticket.
Co Clare last had a Lotto jackpot win on May 5th, 2012. The jackpot on that occasion was €2,688,982, and the winning ticket was sold in Ennis.