A Co Clare man yesterday picked up a National Lottery cheque for his half share of a £3.3 million jackpot as mystery continued to surround the holder of the ticket to the disputed second half.
The single man in his 50s, who has asked to remain anonymous, won over £1.6 million in last Saturday night's draw with a £1.50 ticket he bought in James O'Dowd's shop on Turnpike Road, Ennis.
The other half of the jackpot is being claimed by a Co Kildare couple who say they picked the winning numbers but were handed the wrong slip by an assistant at a local newsagent's. Mr George Murray and his wife Patricia, from Naas, secured a High Court order on Monday preventing the National Lottery paying out the second £1.6 million.
Up to yesterday evening, however, there was no clue to the identity of the person holding the winning ticket. A spokeswoman for the National Lottery said no one had been in contact to say they had the ticket. The court order comes up for renewal on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Clare winner said yesterday that, like the Murrays, he used the same selection of numbers every time - a feature the Murrays hope will prove they were given the wrong ticket.
A married mother of four from Gurranabraher, Cork, yesterday collected the £250,000 Lotto Plus jackpot from Saturday's draw.