By Conor Sharkey
A Sion Mills man had 285,000 reasons to smile this week, after coming up trumps on Ireland's leading National Lottery programme.
In the 'Big Money Game' hotseat on Saturday night was local Irish language advocate Antaine O'Fearghail. Antaine qualified for a place on the show after scoring three stars on a National Lottery scratchcard.
And how lucky the stars turned out to be. The father of two walked away with a staggering ¤285,250 better off.
Back in the village of Sion on Monday, Antaine was still contemplating his good fortune and deciding just how he was going to spend his massive windfall.
He told the Strabane Chronicle: "I bought two scratchcards in Lifford a while back and got two sets of stars. But when I got home I just put them in the cupboard and forgot about them. Then a few weeks back and I was heading out to Lifford to the Lotto and I remembered about the two cards. So I dug them out and posted them off.
"Last Saturday my wife was watching the show with her father but they missed the draw for the names for next week's show. A friend rang and said they thought my name had been drawn but they couldn't be sure because it was all in Irish. As luck would have it, it was me," he explained.
Cue a week of excitement in the O'Fearghail household before Antaine's appearance on Saturday night, an appearance he conducted almost entirely in his beloved Irish language.
"The one thing they do tell you is that you are guaranteed ¤10,000, so I thought to myself, well for ¤3 spent that isn't bad.
"Prior to the final game I had around ¤20,000 and I was happy with that.
And I think everyone thought that contestant number one was going to get to play the final game, but it was a rare finish and I just couldn't believe it when I got to play.
When the ball fell in for the ¤250,000, the whole place erupted. It was an amazing experience and one that I'll never forget," Antaine said.
Since hitting the game show jackpot, the O'Fearghail family have been inundated with well wishers and congratulations.
But what next for the man who has promoted many years of his life promoting the Irish language Pobal Muuileann an tsian and the Aiden McGrath branch of Conrad na Gaelige?
"Myself and Carmel have no immediate plans for the money although I did win a holiday in the Maldives on the show too, so we'll be thinking about that shortly.
"But I will just continue to promote the Irish language and keep doing what I've always been doing.
"Saying that, it is a tremendous relief to know that I can now clear my debts and put some money away for my sons, Aaron and Eoin," he said.
And while Antaine is taking time to count his blessings, he hopes pupils at the local Gaelscoil will be enjoying successes of their own today also.
"Pupils get their Irish GCSE results today and I wish them every success. I hope they and the second year diploma students do very well.
"I would also take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us over the last couple of weeks. The goodwill has been fantastic and while there is too many to thank individually, it has been much appreciated," he added.
'When the ball fell in for the ¤250,000, the whole place erupted. It was an amazing experience and one I'll never forget.'
