With young people being exposed to more gambling opportunities than ever, Ireland’s new watchdog aims to limit illegal and problematic betting.
For Irish young people, gambling is now more normalised than ever – even when it becomes a problem. With 1 in 23 engaging in problematic gambling, those under the age of 30 are especially affected.
As a response to Ireland’s gambling issues, the new Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) was officially established last month.
For over a decade, politicians and activists had campaigned for a stronger regulation of the advertising and licensing for gambling institutions in Ireland, before the Gambling Regulation Act was passed in the Oireachtas last autumn.
The 2024 Act replaced the Betting Act which dates back to 1931. For those working with gambling addicts like Helplink counsellor Gary McCready, an update was long overdue.
“I think it took so long before the idea actually surfaced because of the culture on gambling in Ireland, the income that comes from it in the country. There maybe wasn’t quite the political will to do something about it, but that has changed,” said McCready.
Primarily, the Gambling Regulation Act brought the patchwork of previous legislation into the hands of one authority. It grants the GRAI the power to make and enforce policies around licensing, advertising, sponsorship and problem gambling within the Irish gambling sector. This includes the regulation and licensing of betting, as well as gaming, lotteries, and gambling-related products and services.
Before the Minister for Justice formally appointed GRAI chief executive Anne Marie Caulfield, she and her team worked on laying the foundation for the regulatory body. Among other things, they commissioned several studies from the Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) , which illustrated the severity of the problem to the public.
“The primary finding of [one] study was that problem gambling was approximately ten times higher than had previously been believed. 3.3% of adults have a problem with gambling,” said Prof. Pete Lunn, head of the behavioural research unit at ESRI.
One in thirty adults in Ireland are problem gamblers – this was repeated across Irish headlines at the time of the study’s release. Not quite as widely discussed was the prevalence of gambling among young people. Thirty to 39-year-olds had the highest percentage of problem gamblers at 6.7% with those under thirty coming in second at 4.4%.
Mental health organisations like Helplink found that for those between 16 and 30, predominantly for young males, gambling has become normalised.
“What we tend to see now in the younger age group is that it’ll be part of their social experience; it’ll be talked about more openly,” McCready said.
“I’ve even had clients say to me that, rather than there being a stigma to problem gambling, in that age group, it’s almost glamorised. The more you’re gambling and the more you’re losing, the more it’s seen as something cool, which is a huge concern.”
In his research, Prof. Lunn also found evidence that young people gamble much more regularly than older groups.
“Our data might suggest that by the time people who are currently in their 20s and 30s, get into their 50s, they’re still going to be gambling at a high rate because it’s a generational thing, not an age thing. They’re not going to grow out of it, unless something is done about it,” he said.
One key difference he identifies is that for young people, gambling has become an intrinsic part of everyday activities – like watching sports.
“The total change in the TV market has completely changed the availability of live sport, which makes gambling a more attractive thing,” Prof. Lunn said.
According to McCready, this phenomenon is often referred to as the ‘gamblification of sport’.
“You’re watching your football team; you’ll have a bet on them. They’re invariably wearing a gambling logo across their shirt. There are gambling adverts going all the way around the pitch, at half time, there’s virtually nothing but gambling adverts. So, the whole thing revolves around gambling,” he said.
Modern gambling goes beyond online sports betting and casinos. McCready has dealt with young clients with addiction to trading cryptocurrency, while Prof. Lunn has observed young people’s increasing exposure to elements of gambling through video games.
“We find there’s potentially an association with things like loot boxes in video games, which doesn’t technically count as gambling, but is essentially gambling and is therefore potentially leading people into gambling more online,” said Prof. Lunn.
According to another ESRI study, underage gambling is very widespread in Ireland. Almost two thirds of adults say they gambled before the age of 18. This becomes worrisome when considering their other finding: Those who gambled as children were twice as likely to become problem gamblers later in life.
“Initially it’s fun, then it becomes fun with problems, and then it just becomes problems,” McCready said.
While, initially, many of the new regulations will tackle licensing issues, they also aim to ban all advertising that presents gambling as a desirable activity to children. Even jerseys with gambling brand logos will no longer be available to children, and gambling companies will not be allowed to sponsor events and organisations involving children anymore.
The Gambling Regulation Act also called for a general restriction of advertising for gambling platforms, announcing a ban on broadcasting of gambling ads between 5:30am and 9pm.
“The advertising restrictions are a good first port of call,” said McCready.
“But if you talk to a compulsive gambler, he doesn’t stop at 9:00 in the evening. You can gamble 24/7, so people will or gamble throughout the night. There’s scope for more to be done there.”
On social media and video sharing platforms, advertisements will only be directed at those who directly follow or subscribe to the relative licenced gambling business, according to the 2024 Act. At the time of writing this, YouTube still casts a wider net with their advertisements of betting apps like Novibet and William Hill, meaning that this may be one of the issues the GRAI will tackle at a later stage.
“As of now, it’s just a waiting game to see what the scope of [the GRAI] is and whether it addresses 2025 gambling environment or not,” said McCready.
If you or someone you know might be struggling with problem gambling, here are some additional resources for further information.
Helplink offers a free problem gambling counselling service available by phone or online.
Email: gamblingsupport@helplink.ie
National number: 0818 99 88 80
GamblingCare offers information on gambling, as well as support services, including a 24-hour helpline.
National Helpline: 1800 936 725