Irish lottery winner collects EuroMillions prize of 94m euros

Ireland's newest lottery millionaire has collected a cheque for 94m euros (£80m).

The winner, who has chosen to remain anonymous, contacted the National Lottery offices in Dublin on Thursday.

They share the 188m euros (£160m) with a ticket holder in Belgium.

It is the second biggest EuroMillions prize in the Republic of Ireland and means the winner is now placed at 96 on Ireland's rich list.

"I'm absolutely thrilled. Dreams do come true," the winner said.

"The news is still sinking in so for the moment I'd like to keep the win private.

"I'm looking forward to thinking about all the opportunities that are now open to me. It's a really exciting time."

The winner correctly matched five numbers and two lucky stars in the draw on Tuesday 24 June.

The National Lottery in Ireland has so far not released any details on the winner apart from to say the ticket was bought in Dublin.

It said it would release the name of the store that sold the ticket at a later date.

There have been four jackpot wins since the EuroMillions game launched in Ireland in 2004, with Limerick woman Dolores McNamara holding the record for the largest win.

She won more than 115m euros (£97m) in 2005.