Earlier this week, Kilkenny Live reported a National Lottery online player in County Kilkenny had become Ireland’s newest multi-millionaire after winning €4,005,581 in last Wednesday's main Lotto draw. - READ MORE HERE One man who knows all about about lotto life is Kilkenny native Fran Whearty, who announced he was standing down from his role as Senior Communications Executive with the National Lottery in 2024, describing his tenure as probably the best experience of his life. Mr Whearty is no stranger to high-profile roles, holding positions with Special Olympics Ireland and the FAI, joining the latter in 2003 where he met leading figures in the football world including; Bobby Robson, Steve Staunton and Giovanni Trappattoni during a seven year stint. FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS, CLICK HERE However, he left one love and found another in 2016 when a door at the National Lottery opened. From travelling all over the country for photoshoots to meeting individual winners whose lives are changed forever, no day was ever the same for the North Kilkenny native. But, how did a rural lad from North Kilkenny find his way into the corridors of an organisation that’s become an institution of Irish life. "It’s somewhere I always wanted to work. I’m from just outside Castlecomer so Deen Celtic back in the early 1990s would have benefitted from National Lottery funding so it was something that I had seen as a six or seven year old," he said. That early experience of witnessing first-hand how the National Lottery can positively benefit communities remained with Mr Whearty and when a role became available, he had little hesitation in applying. READ NEXT: North Kilkenny left in the dark after lighting outage "When I seen the role it was just something that I wanted and you couldn’t even call it a job, back before Covid you’d go into work on a Monday morning after all the weekend draws and there would be people queueing ready to come in and claim money, some of them millionaires and just being in the room as they’re being given the cheque was just incredible," he said. A typical day would be very untypical in Mr Whearty’s role with surprises always just around the corner. "You could be in the office and you’d get a phone call to say someone’s after coming through the door and they’re after winning €5 million or €20,000,” he recalled with the lotto official suddenly going from a nobody to a very close ally in somebody’s life. "If you win €6 or €7 million, you can’t relate to anybody in your network about your issues in life so they’ll keep in touch with me over the years and give me a ring from time to time so it was a huge privilege for me to be in that person’s life having had that life changing experience. 99% of winners don’t go public so to be able to be in so many people’s lives after the fact is a nice position to be in," he claimed. And be it a friend, a counsellor or the many more roles winners may associate with Whearty’s name, there’s no doubt his role held a position of great responsibility in the eyes of recipients, keeping news of their major lottery victories as private as a secret service unit. However, as is the nature of Irish society, such news does eventually surface to the sound of much tongue wagging. "From my perspective, I’ve had people in before saying 'there’s a Kilkenny man in there, don’t let him know I’m coming in' but the lottery only operates because we keep people’s wins secret. Once people claim the win and maybe once they start doing the house up or buying new cars they start sharing the news locally, telling their neighbours and friends. I’ve had situations where my mother was able to tell me someone was a lottery winner locally where I wouldn’t have said it to her so a big win does have implications," he remarked. But, despite the pitfalls lotto winners may fall into, the Kilkenny man was always on hand as a comfort blanket. "We never say we give advice, it’s always guidance, and in lots of cases people just ring you for a chat to talk about it, people within their own network don’t have the same sort of relevance. You can’t go down to the local pub and chat to the lads so just even having me on the phone to offer guidance or just to be an ear was probably important to them," he stated. Having discretion has also been a trait that has lended itself well to Whearty’s personal life. "The lottery only works if there’s privacy. There might have been people who I’ve worked with before, went to school with or I know in the local community and they might call saying 'I know him' so as a person I’ve learned to keep a secret or two and it’s something I will be taking to my grave with me." he said, adding, "it’s the bible of the lottery." In a role that’s given him so much pleasure, meeting the winning families is hard to beat in Whearty’s eyes. "It’s like a family wedding or family christening, when people come into the room they always bring their family and friends and you’re there for that three or four times a day where you’re corking open the champagne or making the tea and coffee and you’re in the middle of that every single time and it was probably the best experience of my life," he said. READ MORE: Kilkenny councillor calls out 'absolute embarrassment of a man' The advantages to communities from the National Lottery are also wide ranging with funds raised used to part-finance expenditure by various Government Departments to the benefit of local bodies. "There’s so many sports clubs and other beneficiaries that probably we don’t see as much but to have the clubs and groups and communities in the background getting around€4 million every week was incredible to be part of that," stated Whearty. A new role with Vodafone now awaits for the local man as he prepares to close one chapter and open a new one.