Lottery players will tonight be hoping for an early Christmas present with a massive €13 million jackpot up for grabs.
The prize is the result of a rollover from the 11 draws held since Wednesday November 14 which failed to find a winner.
It is the second time this year the jackpot has reached such an amount and now ranks as the second highest total in the history of the Lotto game.
In July a series of rollovers saw the jackpot reach €16 million before it was won.
That record-breaking total was won by the Cunningham family from Cork thanks to their €4 Quick Pick ticket.
A Lotto spokesman said: "The National Lottery advises all players to play early to avoid the queues of hopeful players who will all want a ticket for this record jackpot.
"Over 10,000 tickets will be sold per minute in over 3,500 Lotto agent shops countrywide."
Lottery officials say that in the draws that have led to this jackpot, punters bought tickets to the value of approximately €6 million — raising €2 million for worthy causes.
Since National Lottery games began, 322 people have become millionaires. Over €4 billion has been paid out in prize money and over €2.6 billion has been given to good causes.
