Frances and Patrick Connolly full of wit and joy as they tell of EuroMillions win

FROM winning £2.60 in last week's lottery draw to scooping £115 million, Frances and Patrick Connolly still appeared to be in a state of shock yesterday as they told of their massive change in fortunes.

Catapulted into the spotlight, the down-to-earth couple sat hand-in-hand throughout a 30-minute press conference at the luxurious Culloden Estate and Spa, near Holywood.

But within minutes of taking to the stage, it was clear that the undoubted star of the show was Frances.

With her bubbly personality and funny quips, you could not help but smile when she spoke about their momentous win.

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"The only thing I ever won was a guess the number of sweets in the jar, and four other people did the same thing," she laughed.

"We always said if we ever did win, £4 million or something, there would be four million other winners and we'd get £1.

"We were chuffed to bits."

From revealing that they celebrated their life-changing win with "a nice cup of tea" to describing how "not a living soul believed us", her infectious personality shone through as she spoke.

There's "no way I am joining the jet set", she declared, telling the packed room she would instead be looking for a modest bungalow, "because I can't walk up the stairs".

And just weeks after Christmas, the couple have been recreating the words of the famous festive hit with the phrase "making a list, and checking it twice".

For they have made a list of 50 friends and family who they want to share their good fortune with.

"We have a physical list," said Frances.

"There will be more added to the list, no doubt. The joy for us will be when we tell them all face to face."

And the couple maintained "we have no intention of keeping all the money" with Patrick telling that they "are level-headed people...not extravagant", before he was corrected by his wife, who snapped back with the simple word, "yet".

One of the biggest laughs of the morning was when the couple were asked the more serious question about any fears for their safety or being targeted by people begging for money.

"I've never met anyone I couldn't take down myself," replied Frances.

As the champagne was sprayed, three bottles at least, the grandparents punched the air and waved their cheque to toast their win.

But in her clear down-to-earth manner, Northern Ireland's newest lottery winner could be heard apologising for the mess and asking, "Who's going to clean all this up?"