Bundoran betting €12m lotto winner is a local

The €12,155,282 Lotto jackpot winner has managed to remain invisible in a seaside town where all the locals know each other.

But the betting in Bundoran, Co Donegal, was that the lucky punter was more likely to be a local than a visitor.

The main rumour circulating was that the ticket was bought by a soldier in nearby Finner Camp.

Corporal Brian Warnock, 38, at the centre of the speculation, was still at work yesterday.

“Do you think if I won I’d be here? If I got €12m I wouldn’t be paying any attention to formal notice for time off .”

Corp Warnock, a married man, lives in Bundoran. Both his mother Celia and his wife Caroline were still at home, vehemently denying he was a winner.

Celia said: “I know it’s all over town but it is totally untrue.”

A Defence Forces spokesperson said: “We have checked with the named individual and we know the speculation to be false.”

Brian McGovern, owner of the American House, the newsagent and souvenir shop that sold the winning ticket, said that out of his large Lotto ticket sales, a small percentage bought €12 tickets.

It was a quickpick line on a €12 ticket bought on Wednesday that scooped the biggest jackpot ever won in the north-west.

Bachelor Brian, 71, said: “We have sold a lot of tickets to people who have got on to Winning Streak over the years.

“Some of them have won up to €70,000, including cars, on that. I hear it’s not going to be on television any more. That’s a great pity, because it attracts many Lotto customers.”

Brian said the winner could be a holidaymaker, but the fact that the ticket was bought on the same day as the draw meant that it was more likely to be a local.

There were thousands of visitors in Bundoran over the holiday weekend but those numbers were reduced by Wednesday.

Brian said: “Most of the €12 tickets are for local syndicates.”