THE TINY CORK community of Bere Island is abuzz with speculation after a winning Euromillions Plus lottery ticket worth €500,000 was sold on the island.

The island has a population of about 200 people and Mary Murphy of Rerrin Post Office says the lucky winner “has to be a local”.

Murphy spoke to Cork radio station C103 about selling the winning ticket, saying that the biggest winner she previously sold was just €20.

“I sold the winning ticket last night for €500,000 the Euromillions Plus. Somebody on Bere Island has won it but we don’t know yet who it is,” Murphy said, adding that she herself has not won.

I’m very excited. I did buy the ticket myself but I checked it straight away when I got a phonecall this morning.

“It has to be a local. I can’t really say much more than that now… There is speculation, but it depends really. ”

“It’s a great and it’s a big thing to support the local post office. It’s very important,” she added.

The winning ticket was a quick pick and was sold on Monday ahead of last night’s draw.

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Bere Island, also known as An tOileán Mór, is an island off the Beara Peninsula in Cork and is just 10 km long and 3 km wide.

The sale of lotto tickets there was only introduced last year.