So who won €2.6m Lotto on just a €4 stake?

Speculation was rife in a city suburb today over the identity of the winner -- but the lucky punter was keeping quiet.

The golden ticket holder spent just €4 on the draw -- but is now line to collect €2,669,637.

The ticket was bought in a Centra shop in Clongriffin, north Dublin, where news of the win delighted excited staff.

The lucky winning digits in Saturday's draw were 3, 11, 23, 24, 27 and 38.

The bonus number was 16.

Punters

The manager of the shop, Daniel Dodocoa, said that there had been a steady trade of Lotto punters throughout the weekend.

"Everybody's talking about it, but nobody knows who won it. A lot of people are checking their tickets, but no winners have come forward yet."

He did speculate that the actual winner could well decide to stay anonymous even if they are one of his regulars.

"You think they'd tell you, but things change when they know they're the winner, maybe not.

"It's a lot of money," he added.

The potential that they could well know the lucky winner is proving frustrating to staff, who cannot wait to hear who it is.

Fortune

Mr Dodocoa also said the staff were dying to know who got so close to the winning ticket.

"We have no idea when it was sold, there were two different shifts that day. They are all dying to know who sold it all right."

This big win is a vast change in fortune for the shop as well -- the previous biggest winner was just €5,000 in a Christmas draw.

There was no winner of the Lotto Plus 1 top prize of €350,000 and there were no winners of the Lotto Plus 2 top prize of €250,000.

The next draw is on Wednesday and is for €2m.

hnews@herald.ie