Tesco staff in Carrick on Shannon Co Leitrim who sold the lucky €7 million winning Lotto ticket at the weekend were themselves at the centre of fevered speculation tonight.
A single ticket bought in the store on the N4 outside the town on Friday scooped the jackpot of €7.1 million Lotto jackpot.
The most common refrain in the riverside town today was “it wasn’t me” as locals speculated frantically on the likely winner.
Former Fine Gael TD Gerry Reynolds, the business man who developed the shopping complex on the edge of the town, pointed out that Carrick on Shannon was bustling at the weekend with even more visitors than usual because of the bank holiday.
“There is great excitement and great rumours but no one knows who won,” he said.
However, Tom Slattery, a security man at the Tesco store, had his fingers and toes crossed that one of the two staff syndicates could be in the money.
“We have two syndicates - one with 10 people and a second one started just a few days ago with 42 members,” he explained.
Tom and a few colleagues organised the larger syndicated during the week when they heard the Euro millions jackpot was worth €90m.
“We didn’t win that but we won a few bob and decided to spend it on Saturday’s night jackpot,” explained Tom who has worked at the store since it opened nine years ago.
He says the syndicated bought their ticket on Friday but he was down the country today and waiting hopefully for news.
With the syndicate’s ticket rumoured to be locked in a safe store manager Liam Melody was insisting there was no news of a local win.
“People have been in and out of the store all day pranking us, pretending they won but all we know is that the ticket was sold on Friday,” he said.
“Carrick is a tourism hub and there are lots of hen and stag parties every weekend so it could be anyone”.
Locals pointed out that the Tesco store is directly across the road from MBNA, which is due to close at the end of November with the loss of 160 jobs so a win for anyone there would be universally welcomed.
“The town is full of visitors so God only knows who it is”, said Gerry Faughnan from Carrick chamber of commerce.
Local Fianna Fail councillor Sinead Guckian said Tesco was doing a flying trade yesterday with queues of people checking their tickets and checking the latest rumours.
“It would be great if someone from Leitrim won. We all hope it goes to someone who is deserving and that it brings them happiness” she said.
