Nobody had yet come forward to claim last Saturday's Lotto jackpot of almost €7 million, the National Lottery Office said yesterday afternoon.
The winning ticket was sold in Ballyfermot, Dublin, last Thursday. A Lottery spokeswoman said it was "unlikely, given the publicity that the winner does not know" of their good fortune.
The fact that the numbers were not a quick pick is another reason the winner would know they hold the winning ticket, she added. The winning numbers were: 17; 21; 27; 38; 40 and 42. The bonus was 11
In the Lotto Plus 1 game, in which the prize was €300,000, the winning numbers were 06; 09; 18; 22; 26; 32 and the bonus number was 08. In the Lotto Plus 2 game the winning numbers were 03; 10; 11; 13; 27; 37; and the bonus number was 24.
The weekend jackpot of €6,974,040 was the fifth highest since the Lotto game began.
Charge against garda adjourned
A former detective garda, who was a key witness in the Morris tribunal which investigated alleged Garda corruption in Co Donegal, had a drunken driving charge against him adjourned for the fifth time in the District Court, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, yesterday.
Mr Noel McMahon was charged with the alleged offence at Magheross, Carrickmacross, on March 30th last year.
His solicitor, Mr Conor McGuill, told Judge David Anderson that by consent with the State he was seeking a further adjournment until October 26th. Garda Insp Jim Marks, prosecuting, said there was no objection to such a course.
Two charged with assaulting pilot
Two young men appeared in court yesterday charged with assaulting the pilot of an Aer Arann flight at Dublin Airport last month. Both defendants were remanded on continuing bail at Dublin District Court to appear again on November 8th.
Mr Shane O'Flynn (20) and Mr James Graham (22) were both charged with assault causing harm to Capt Carl Murphy on August 14th. - (PA)
Call for reform of Irish universities
The Government was yesterday urged to embark on a programme of reform of university governance and management systems to improve the standing of Irish universities internationally.
Dr Edward Walsh, founding president of the University of Limerick, said no Irish university made it to the top 200 in the 2003 Academic Ranking of World Universities.
"Since World War II, the best of European universities have been losing ground to their US counterparts. Funding has been an important factor but not the only one. European universities have in effect been nationalised and the creative drive that seeks out excellence suppressed by the weight of state intrusion," he said.