A Dublin man who discovered he had won the €5.6 million Lotto jackpot on Christmas Day waited until yesterday afternoon to claim his winnings and became the winner of the third biggest single jackpot.
The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, picked up a cheque for €5,617,764.
"I discovered I had won on Christmas Day but we carried on with Christmas dinner as normal," said Ireland's latest lottery millionaire.
"We then found out we were the only winner of the draw and that surprised me as I was sure there would be lots of winners of such a big jackpot."
"I will take my time and will spend the next few weeks putting together a plan for spending my winnings," he added.
Ms Paula McEvoy, PR manager for the National Lottery, remarked on the calmness of the winner who picked up the largest winnings of 2003.
"He was very pleased but very collected, considering how much he had won," said Ms McEvoy.
"He has had time to consider his options and how he will spend his money."
The largest single winner of the lottery was a farmer from south Cork who picked up winnings of nearly €7.9 million in May 1997.
The largest ever Lottery jackpot - €9.5 million - was shared by Cavan couple Mary and Paddy Kelly and a syndicate from Co Meath.
Meanwhile a retired couple from Co Wicklow also visited National Lottery headquarters yesterday to collect the New Year's Eve jackpot of €1.35 million.