What do you do when you win half a million pounds in the lottery? Well, if you're a retired man in your 60s and from Co Mayo you're going to "give the car a good wash and change the tyres".
That was the decision of one of the two winners in Wednesday night's £1 million Lotto jackpot. He slipped into the National Lottery's Dublin office anonymously yesterday to collect his £530,897 share of the prize and told officials that he would continue to enjoy a "simple life".
His arrival was very different from the scene several hours later when the other winner arrived. Padraig Morgan, a 35-yearold unemployed man from Castlerea, Co Roscommon, was accompanied by his mother Una, six sisters, five of their husbands, his mother's twin sister Norah and a cousin. Padraig said he would like to buy a new house near the council estate where he lives with his mother.
He is a man of few words, but his protective sisters expressed their delight at the win. Asked when the party started, his sister Freda said: "On Wednesday night."
As the champagne flows, a family member steps out to bank the money. There is a rousing cheer when she returns. Through all the partying Padraig and his mother Una sit calmly, perhaps still a little stunned at their great fortune.