DESPITE the fact that summer is over, Croaghaun Mountain on Achill Island, Co Mayo, had more trekkers and backpackers yesterday than any other day of the year.
It is a total coincidence, of course, that a lotto slip worth over £2 million is reportedly lost on the 2,000 ft slopes. Nobody would actually admit they were searching for the 3 x 4.5in pink and white receipt. The manner in which the heathery hummocks were scrutinised, however, was a dead giveaway.
Mr Michael O'Malley, the postmaster at Keel where the winning £1 Lotto slip was bought last week, was both amused and amazed yesterday at how the story of the "lost digit" had gained credence to the point where people had actually begun looking for it.
Since last week, a man claiming to be from Galway has been telephoning Mr O'Malley and suggesting he is the winner. The man claimed to have climbed Croaghaun Mountain, west of Keel, with an American woman friend. Mr O'Malley said: "The longer it goes on, the more I come to believe that the caller is laying a smokescreen. His stories have not been consistent. "Despite the postmaster's scepticism, however, many islanders and some outsiders are apparently quite willing to believe there is a passport to riches fluttering somewhere among the heather.
As he surveyed the increased activity on the mountain yesterday, Mr John Moran from Saulia suggested that the mystery backpacker put up £500,000 reward and a few hundred or so of the fittest on the island would comb the hillside for him.
While Achill is still abuzz over the story of the unclaimed millions, Mr O'Malley is beginning to tire of it all. "The phone hasn't stopped ringing since last Wednesday," he explained. His theory is that the winner is local and that he will collect his big cheque the day after the All-Ireland football final.
"If Mayo wins, he can travel up to Dublin and ride off with his £2 million cheque into the western sunset and nobody will take a blind bit of notice," he said.