The lucky winner of a €250,000 Millionaire Raffle prize has claimed his cheque, saying paying off his mortgage and a family holiday are top of his new to-do list.

“I might be the ticket holder but we all won as a family,” the delighted Donegal man said, who wishes to remain anonymous.

Collecting his cheque today, he said he had bought the ticket on the day of the draw on New Year’s Eve at the American House shop in Bundoran, Co. Donegal, just hours before the draw deadline.

He found out about his windfall the following morning. He said: “The morning after the draw, I was on Facebook and there was a lot of news about a big lotto win in the town. I didn’t take any notice of it and it was only when I heard the local radio station mention the Millionaire Raffle number that I remembered to check my ticket. As I had one of the last tickets, I knew my number was high. When I heard the number, I just knew.”

He plans to take the kids and their grandparents away on holiday “so we can celebrate properly as a family”. But, “first thing first, I will be putting the cheque into the bank and paying off my mortgage,” he said.

In total, there were 3,176 prize winners in the National Lottery Christmas Millionaire Raffle ranging from €500 to €1 million. The Christmas Millionaire top prize winning ticket of €1 million, which has yet to be claimed was ticket number 179740.

The lucky ticket was purchased at the Topaz Service Station on Lower Tivoli Road in Cork on December 21, 2016.