‘We hope local bought the €4.4m Lotto-winning ticket’

A SMALL town with a population of less than 2,000 has been gripped by Lotto fever – and the phrase ‘it could be you’ is an apt one as they wonder if any of their neighbours are €4.4million better off.

The manager of the Daly’s Topaz in Lifford said the Co. Donegal town is buzzing since it emerged the winning ticket for Saturday’s draw was sold there – but added that the winner may not necessarily be a local. Róisín Daly, the owner’s daughter, said that ‘everyone’s talking about it’ in the town.

She said: ‘There are all sorts of stories going round but no, we haven’t heard yet who the winner is. We’re hoping that it’s one of our regular customers, but at the same time, we’re right on the border so it could be anyone from Northern Ireland or anyone just passing, maybe heading to Dublin or further afield.’

Ms Daly said that since the shop put the news on Facebook, ‘everyone went crazy’. She said: ‘I couldn’t keep up with the messages and notifications... Everyone’s buzzing and it’s great because it is such a small town. I know something like that brings people together and the buzz is unreal. The staff is all on great form today and everyone’s talking about it.’

The winning ticket was a Quick Pick and was bought at the filling station on Saturday. The winning numbers were 1, 2, 7, 33, 34, 40 and a bonus number of 6, and the jackpot totalled €4,434,994.

Lifford councillor Gary Doherty said: ‘It’s great that it’s come into a local area and hopefully they [the winner] will enjoy it.’