Irish president criticises “dangerous” gambling advertising
The Irish president, Michael D Higgins, has spoken out against gambling advertising in sport.
Ireland.- The president of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, has criticised gambling advertising on television as dangerous and destructive.
Speaking at the opening of an addiction rehabilitation centre in Wicklow, the president expressed concerns over gambling addiction and suggested he would be in favour of restrictions on gambling advertising.
He also criticised “totally minimal, tokenistic invitations to be responsible” as “not good enough”.
Higgins said: “I am a lifetime supporter of sport, and during Covid, my heart broke at regular times to think that sport was being saturated with gambling advertisements, which are so dangerous and have done so much damage to families and so much damage to individuals.
“My hope is that as a society we take responsibility for making the atmosphere in which people live their lives, do their work, enjoy their sport, as free as possible from unnecessary pressure that is capable of causing so much destruction.
“I say this as somebody who was a former minister for broadcasting myself, it is a concern of mine. I would think very often this summer, watching a piece of sport I switched off because yet again there was going to be another break with yet another advertisement and totally minimal, tokenistic invitations to be responsible… It’s not good enough.”
The Irish president was touring the refurbished 34-unit Carraig Eden addiction centre run by the charity Tiglin in the seaside village of Greystones. He said local authorities across Ireland could take the Wicklow County Council project as an example.
Higgins comments come amid growing calls for a ban on gambling advertising in sports in Ireland. There have been similar calls for a ban in the UK.
Meanwhile, senators in Ireland have begun debating the creation of a new gambling regulator, which has been put back to 2023.
Ireland’s Interim Gaming and Lotteries Act, which was passed in December, mandates the government to overhaul existing gambling legislation dating back to 1931 and 1956.
