Mayo village buzzing with speculation over €595,521 lottery windfall

A Mayo village is buzzing with speculation today that a factory syndicate bagged a massive €595,521 windfall in last night’s National Lottery.

One suggestion being strongly whispered in the village of Turlough, five miles from Castlebar, is that a local collective of industrial workers - more than 40 in total - have struck gold.

However, this speculation hasn’t been confirmed as accurate by the National Lottery.

A Quickpick selection purchased during the week at the Turlough Stores XL netted the massive Match 5 Plus Bonus prize in last night’s draw.

A second Quickpick, bought elsewhere in the Republic, landed a similar amount.

There was no winner of the record €19,060,800 jackpot.

Turlough Stores XL, which is owned by Michael and Attracta Barrett, was as busy as a beehive today as locals gathered to purchase groceries and, most importantly, share gossip about who the big local winner(s) might be.

However, the shop owners said they don’t know who the winner is.

Michael Barrett said they had been contacted by the National Lottery about the win around half ten last night (Saturday) and given very little information other than the fact that their shop had sold “one of the big winners."

As his wife, Attracta, travelled to Castlebar to collect balloons and bunting, Michael said: “I don’t know who the winner is. It’s definitely not me, unfortunately."

This is the first big Lotto win for the Turlough Store XL although they have landed a number of smaller lottery prizes over the years.

Said Attracta Barrett: “It’s absolutely brilliant news. We are delighted. I wish the winner lots of further luck and good health in the future”.

The shop owners stand to gain nothing from the local windfall as a Jackpot win wasn’t involved.