Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has vowed to bring the country’s gambling clubs to their knees. For decades, Irish gambling clubs have operated in a legislative grey area because, unlike every other country in the EU, Ireland has no law specifically governing casinos.
Gambling is illegal in the state unless it is a game of chance, or partly a game of chance, under the 1956 Gaming and Lotteries Act.
However, so-called casinos have traditionally sidestepped the rules by setting themselves up as ‘private members’ clubs’, which are not subject to the same rules as normal commercial entities.
To gamble in a gambling club, all a customer needs to do is sign up as a member at the door. They can then gamble freely, as often as they want, so long as they show their membership credentials each time they enter the club. Membership is generally free.
Gambling clubs have grown in popularity in recent years, particularly with the growing interest in gambling and Texas Hold ’Em poker. This is especially the case since poker became a fixture on TV.
However, McDowell is intent on reining in the growth of gambling clubs. ‘‘I have concerns about the enforceability of the present law as it applies to these types of operations and the scope for their use for money-laundering,” he said last week.
‘‘I am preparing proposals for changes in the law that will facilitate the prosecution of offences and the closing down of establishments engaged in such operations,” he added.
McDowell said he would soon ask for government approval to include the clampdown on casinos in the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006.
The new bill is to update the 1956 act which was introduced to govern the running of slot machines, amusement arcades and raffles.
McDowell’s announcement was accompanied by a stinging attack on casino culture.
Casinos are ‘‘more damaging to society than positive’’, he said. ‘‘I honestly do not believe they add anything to the good life of Ireland.”
A large number of gambling clubs already operate in Dublin - Silks on Earlsfort Terrace; the Fitzwilliam, off Fitzwilliam Square; Colossus Casino Club off Wexford Street; the Mayfair Casino Club on Harcourt Street; and the Merrion Casino Club on Merrion Square.
Among the promoters is billionaire financier Dermot Desmond, who has invested €5.5 million in the Sporting Emporium private members’ club off Grafton Street in Dublin.
Desmond has targeted the high end of the market, establishing a club with high-tech gadgets and comfortable surroundings in an attempt to lure the big gamblers.
His investment has coincided with a massive growth in gambling clubs across the country. In recent years, the number of clubs in Dublin has approached 15, while clubs have also opened in Cork, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, Drogheda, Co Louth, and Roscrea, Co Tipperary.
McDowell said he believed that the clubs were not in fact ‘‘members clubs’’ because they generally do not hold AGMs, and members are not involved in the running of the clubs.
McDowell also believes that the games being run in the clubs are not games of chance because the odds are weighted in favour of the club.
Industry sources agree that the current legislative situation is far from ideal, but they say that regulation, and not extermination, is needed.
‘‘If McDowell does this, the business will go underground and that will create bigger problems,” said JJ Woods, who has worked in the international casino industry for 25 years and helped set up Silks Club Casino in Dublin.” Why can the business not be legitimised and cleaned up?
‘‘Why close it and push it underground?
“Why not bring in a gaming board? Why not have an academy of gaming where people can learn how to deal the cards?
‘‘It makes revenue for the government; it creates employment.
“We’re not out to rip people off. Do you know how many rich people fly to London, their wives go to London to shop, they go to the casino.
“Those people would think nothing of flying to Dublin if we had casinos here and we could promote them here.”
Regulation, however, does not appear to be on the agenda, as McDowell has repeatedly stated his plans to shut down the industry.
However, despite the threat to their business, the clubs have so far failed to unify in a concerted lobbying effort.
‘‘No one owner wants to foot the bill to hire lobbyists to change things for the whole industry,” said one industry source.
‘‘The major interests in the US and elsewhere have looked at Ireland. They found that there is no appetite whatsoever to allow Las Vegas-style casinos operate here. In the absence of that, none of the foreign players are willing to employ lobbyists until a government is looking seriously at this question.”
Despite the lack of action so far, if McDowell’s bill outlaws gambling clubs, their owners and operators are expected to mount legal challenges against the government.
The law has a long way to go before it comes into force. However, McDowell’s stance on clubs is already having an impact on the industry.
Woods said he had been in talks with a major golf club in Ireland about plans to open a gambling club, but this project had now been put on hold.
‘‘I can’t take it to the next stage because they’re looking at the papers and they’re saying: ‘McDowell is not going to allow casinos,’” said Woods.
Ian Marmion, head of Victor Chandler’s online, telephone and betting operations, based in Gibraltar, said the company had not opened a casino in Ireland because of the legal ambiguity.
‘‘The legislation under which casinos operate in Ireland is on the verge of legality,” Marmion said. ‘‘It wasn’t worth the risk.”
source: Sunday Business Post
