From Legal Grey Area to Regulatory Leadership

As Ireland takes its first real steps toward regulating its casino and gambling industry through the creation of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI), we should be asking not just what comes next, but what we’ve allowed to happen until now. And more urgently: Are we about to let history repeat itself this time with foreign operators leading the charge?

The UK is already grappling with the consequences of weak gambling oversight. A recent Guardian investigation revealed how companies like Merkur Gaming have flooded British towns with 24 hour Adult Gaming Centres (AGCs) often indistinguishable from casinos by exploiting outdated planning laws and regulatory gaps. These venues offer high intensity electronic gaming machines (EGMs) often in some of the UK’s most economically vulnerable areas. By replicating venues side by side appealing planning rejections and calling their high stakes rooms “amusement arcades” they’ve overwhelmed local councils and sidestepped community resistance.

Merkur now operates more than 230 AGCs across Britain. That aggressive expansion has sparked serious public health concerns, leading the UK government to pause plans to further liberalise rules around slot machines. Yet the company’s gaze is turning elsewhere including Ireland.

Ireland: A Soft Touch for over Two Decades

For more than 20 years Ireland’s casino industry has operated with near impunity largely beyond the reach of meaningful regulation. All of Dublin’s flagship casinos today operate on “amusement licences” permits originally intended for harmless machines like coin pushers and teddy cranes. These same venues now feature plush VIP lounges, live roulette and poker, and slots offering jackpots of over €30,000.

This isn’t regulation. It’s a free for all.

While other sectors of Irish life have become more tightly managed the gambling sector has slipped through the cracks capitalising on a legal grey zone while public concern grows over gambling addiction financial hardship and underage exposure.

Merkur Eyes the Market

Merkur is no stranger to Ireland. And now with GRAI’s formation Merkur and others are preparing to scale. Foreign investment in gambling isn’t inherently negative, but the danger becomes clear if Ireland doesn’t get its new licensing framework right from the outset. Without a strong foundation, we risk replicating the same problems seen in the UK market: highly regulated, yes, but often imperfectly enforced and deeply reactive.

We are at the Tipping Point

Ireland’s Casino market is no longer emerging, it has emerged, largely without clear rules. The only question now is whether we shape its future with intention or allow it to spiral into a high profit high harm industry dominated by international players with deeper pockets and looser ethics.

But let us also be clear, not every operator is part of the problem. Many longstanding Irish casino and amusement businesses have made a genuine effort to play by the rules even when those rules were outdated or unclear. They have invested in staff training player protection tools and community relationships despite operating in legal uncertainty.

As GRAI begins to lay the foundation for a regulated market those Irish operators who acted in good faith should be recognised not swept aside in a rush to license the biggest and fastest. A responsible sustainable gambling environment will not come from starting over. It will come from building on what is already working holding bad actors accountable and giving responsible ones the space and support to thrive under proper oversight.

Merkur sees the opportunity here. So should we, not just to profit but to finally set a standard, One that rewards fair play.