A FATHER AND son pair were putting on a brave face at National Lottery HQ in Dublin this afternoon, as they picked up a cheque for just over €300k.

The Dubliners matched five numbers and one ‘Lucky Star’ in the Euromillions draw on 9 January.

Turns out, however, that they were agonisingly close to claiming a much larger prize — their selection was just one number away from the one that secured a massive €31 million.

The jackpot that night was scooped by a player in Luxembourg.

“We won’t be going mad buying flashy new cars,” one of the winners said (they’ve chosen to remain anonymous).

“But we’ve always wanted to visit America so I think we’ll have to look into that.”

They added:

We’ve been playing for years and the most we’ve won was €16 so you can imagine the excitement when we checked the ticket.

“I thought I was going to have a heart attack.”

Their lucky €10 Quick Pick was bought in the Post Office at Neilstown Shopping Centre, Dublin 22.

Read: Ryanair fined over ‘extreme difficulty’ and costs for fixing flight problems

Read: Fine Gael high-flyer doubles down on Page 3 “feminazis” comment