Whilst most European jurisdictions have adopted modern regulatory structures for gaming, the industry in Ireland remains regulated by antiquated laws such as the Betting Act 1931 and the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956.

The legality of Ireland’s private members club casinos is likely to be tested in the courts after gardaÌ raided and closed a casino in Clonmel, Co Tipperary this weekend. In an overview of recent developments Rob Corbet and Emmet O’Grady report on a significant shift on what may now be tolerated in Ireland.

Irish justice minister Dermot Ahern has abandoned hopes of gaining cross party consensus on the reform of Ireland’s gaming regulation and is instead pressing ahead with intra-departmental moves to regulate private members clubs that offer casino-style games. With concerns over casino money laundering still looming, Ahern is thought likely to fast track their regulation.

In the aftermath of the Irish general election, which saw Berti Ahern’s Fianna Fail re-elected with a reduced majority, the Irish Bookmakers Association has revealed that it will not install fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in its members’ shops until it is legal to do so.

The long awaited report of Ireland’s Casino Committee has been published, two years after former Irish justice minister Michael McDowell first commissioned it. The 208-page report recommends the establishment of a new regulatory authority to oversee land-based and online gambling and calls the US prohibition on Internet betting payments “an opportunity for Ireland.”

Whilst gaming operators in the Republic of Ireland have been waiting for the introduction of licensed casinos, poker tournaments have regularly been staged in private members clubs, without attracting the attention of the authorities. The situation in Northern Ireland is somewhat different, however.

The Irish Bookmakers Association is to ask the department of justice to reject the recommendation of the casino committee’s that fixed odds betting terminals be barred from betting shops. Their plea, in response to political manoeuvrings from the Labour party figure Pat Rabbitte, once again shifts FOBT’s to the centre of the growing debate over gambling reform in Ireland.

Labour Party justice spokesman Pat Rabbitte this week reiterated his opposition to the installation of fixed-odds betting terminals in Irish betting shops, and accused Prime Minister Brian Cowen of “giving bookmakers the nod” that they would be allowed to install the machines when Cowen was finance minister last year.

A new report, commissioned by the body that represents casino operators in Ireland, has added weight to arguments that regulation of the sector could potentially bring huge benefits for the Irish economy. The study comes ahead of a landmark industry debate scheduled for next week in Dublin.

GamblingCompliance can confirm that Pat Rabbitte TD, Labour Party spokesperson for justice, will address delegates at a landmark two-day conference to examine Ireland’s new gambling landscape. Rabbitte will participate in a debate on possible regulatory approaches to fixed-odds betting terminals in the Irish Republic when the conference takes place at the Clontarf Castle Hotel in Dublin on 13 and 14 October.