Published: Tuesday, 30th December, 2008 12:00pm

Mystery lottery winner bought ticket in Mullingar

With all the commotion of Christmas, a lucky lotto winner may be walking around Mullingar unaware that they are in possession of a €500,000 lottery ticket which was purchased from Martin"s Quick Pick on the Delvin Road on Christmas Eve for €4.

Speculation is rife as to the owner of the ticket and people have been phoning and calling into Martin"s Quick Pick to ask for the winning numbers, Shop Owner Paula Martin explained.

According to the shopkeeper, most people aren"t even asking for their tickets to be checked, preferring instead to get the numbers and check their tickets in privacy in case they have won.

Martin"s Quick Pick is frequented by regular syndicate players from local offices, local residents, passing trade and would get a lot of custom from the hospital, said Mrs. Martin.

She expressed her hope that the winner would be from the locality and that the prize money is collected within the allocated 90 days. 'I hope it brings them plenty of health and happiness. It"s a great Christmas present,' Mrs. Martin added.

Martin"s Quick Pick has seen an increase in lotto sales since the news of the win broke, 'when a shop gets luck it often stays lucky,' commented Mrs. Martin.

The lucky ticket holder won the Lotto Plus 2 prize which is usually fixed at €250,000 but was doubled for Christmas Eve, A second lucky winning ticket for the Lotto Plus 2 draw was bought in Cornelscourt in Dublin but as it was a special top prize draw for Christmas both winners will receive €500,000.

No winner has come forward to the National Lottery Head Office in Dublin with the winning €4 ticket purchased on Christmas Eve in Mullingar, a Lottery Spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday.

The winning lotto plus 2 numbers for the Christmas Eve Draw were 1,4,10,19.26,31 and the bonus number was 35.