Laois man is €500,000 richer after doing the EuroMillions

A fairly tidy little Christmas bonus for this guy.

A Laois man is half a million euro richer today after striking gold by playing the EuroMillions. The news came as a shock to the winner, not least because he had been in possession of the ticket for a whole week before he realised he'd won. Speaking in the National Lottery Winner’s room today where he picked up his mega-cheque on time for Christmas, the winner said: “I was walking around with the ticket in my pocket for more than a week when I heard there was a winning ticket sold in Mountmellick, It still didn’t really twig it could be me as I don’t live there. "I often stop in the town to fill my car with petrol when I drive by. When I scanned the ticket I got a message to contact the National Lottery. When I called and was told I had won a half a million euro I couldn’t utter to the lady on the phone. I wasn’t taking in what she was saying to me. It’s the first time in my life I’ve been utterly speechless." The man, who has chosen to remain anonymous, has only told his wife about the huge windfall — and has admitted that he doesn't know how to tell his children yet. This winning ticket was sold at the Petrogas Service Station in Mountmellick town, Co. Laois. It was the 27^th Irish EuroMillions Plus top prize of €500,000 win of the year, which means that Irish players have won a total of €13.5 million in top prizes on EuroMillions Plus so far this year.