THE NATIONAL LOTTERY failed to broadcast last night’s Lotto draw due to a “minor technical issue”.

The live feed was suspended mid-broadcast due to the fact that the Lotto Plus 1 draw machine began selecting balls earlier than the sequence should have started.

The operator said that the recording of the draw continued but the live TV broadcast was halted as a result. In a statement, the National Lottery that the issue did not affect the integrity of the draw.

“The National Lottery would like to inform its players that there was a minor technical issue with tonight’s Lotto draw. However, there is no issue with either the integrity of the draw or the numbers drawn,” the statement reads.

“Earlier this evening we suspended the live broadcast of the Lotto draw due to a minor technical issue when the Lotto Plus 1 draw machine began selecting balls earlier than the sequence should have started.

“As is standard procedure, when a technical event occurs, the recording of the draw continues but the live tv broadcast is halted.

“This is in order to protect the integrity of the draw and is in line with our approved game rules and processes, all of which are and were independently observed by KPMG.

The balls originally selected by the Lotto Plus 1 machine are final. The Lotto and Lotto Plus 2 draws were then conducted off air. Results of all draws are published on http://lottery.ie and will be displayed later on RTÉ 1.