Trinity college SU to hold referendum on gambling sponsorship

Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) has voted to hold a referendum on whether it should accept advertising or sponsorship money from gambling companies.

Ireland.- The student union council at Ireland’s best-ranked university, Trinity College Dublin, has voted to hold a referendum over whether to accept funds from gambling companies in the form of advertising or sponsorship.

The referendum could also mandate the union’s president, welfare and equality officer and ents officers to lobby for a national ban on gambling advertising and sponsorship in Ireland.

The motion was proposed by ents officer Hugh McInerney. He said the union wasn’t “against gambling” but aimed to ensure the union didn’t “support parasitic gambling advertising”.

He said he believed gambling advertising had become more effective and that its “one goal was to make losing money as attractive as possible”.

The union is not believed to have accepted any money from gambling companies in the past, but McInerney wanted to rule out the possibility for the future.

Communications and marketing officer Philly Holmes said gambling companies had approached the union but had been rejected. He said the union “should have a formal stance to oppose that form of advertising”.

There have been growing calls for a ban on gambling advertising in Ireland. In February, Labour Party senator Mark Wall called for a complete ban to be introduced.

See also: Report blasts Irish problem gambling services as “not fit for purpose”