Irish Reluctant to Embrace Online Casino Culture

Board any Ryanair flight to Dublin on a Friday and you’ll more than likely find yourself sitting next to a boisterous stag party group visiting the Irish capital for the weekend. The city on the Liffey has become synonymous with English stag and hen weekends but there is a market which Dublin hasn’t as yet tapped into. It is of course the casino market.  But why is a country which prides itself on its rich horse racing traditions so coy about this type of gambling? At the moment there is no specific legislation in relation to casinos and many independent operators fear a report which is due to be released in the coming months may suggest scrapping casinos in the Republic all together. That is however unlikely and the McGrath report is instead rumoured to favour a new set of laws which will help govern the market in a more transparent way. Such a development would be welcomed by the Irish casino group. They have been pushing for this ever since former Minister for Justice Michael McDowell flip-flopped on the issue, first declaring that casinos should be outlawed, and subsequently commissioning the McGrath report. While casinos are illegal under the 1956 Gaming and Lotteries Act, private members' clubs can circumvent the rule by ensuring patrons sign up before they can start gambling. And casinos have become big business. "I'd say we usually have between 200 or 350 people come through the doors on an average night," says David Hickson, managing director of the Fitzwilliam Club, based in Dublin. Big players have vested interests in the business being legalised. Financier Dermot Desmond spent €5.5m on his Dublin-based Sporting Emporium -- a 13,000 square-feet premises that opened in 2005. It lures hundreds of late-night revelers with its promise of free drinks and potential lucky streaks. Punters there have been known to make big money -- as much as €100,000 in a night. For the time being at least then Dublin will remain a party town but casino gambling will continue to be frowned upon by those in power.

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