WAS it a local or a tourist? That was the speculation at the weekend in the Co Donegal town of Ballybofey, where the winning Lotto jackpot ticket worth £1,175,104 was bought on Saturday.
It is the second time a million pound winning ticket was sold at Joseph Alexander's grocery and hardware store on Main Street. The last winner did not go public but was believed to be local.
This lucky player left it to the computer to select the numbers (3, 7, 22, 33, 35, 40 and the bonus number 25) with a £4 quick pick. Mr Alexander's brother. Hugh, thought that if the winner was not local, it was a passing tourist. Quite a few tourists pass through here on the way to the west of the county and it might have been one of them," he said.
"It's rather good news to get on a Sunday morning, isn't it.
In Cheers bar on Main Street, there was "a bit of talk about it but not much because it's quiet here at the moment" said Melanie, who works there. "Nobody knows who it is but I'm dying to find out."
It was a different story in Patrick Bonner's corner bar. One customer who was reluctant to be named said he was "97 or 98 per cent sure" he knew the lucky winners. The family, whom he identified, was from Drumboe in Stranorlar, the neighbouring "twin town" of Ballybofey.
He saw the woman and her family yesterday morning and they were "very happy looking". But wouldn't a lot of people be happy on a nice sunny Sunday morning? "If you seen this family they were really happy, celebrating with wine and champagne. They even bought me a drink."
Attempts last night to locate the family he named proved unsuccessful.
