Gambling problem 'getting worse'
More gamblers are looking for help following the introduction of internet gambling, new casinos and longer opening hours for bookmakers.
Gamblers Anonymous said there had been a rise in the number of people making contact with its helpline.
“It’s much worse now than it was. You look at how they’re after upping everything, with the internet gambling and they have bookies open to 10 o’clock at night. After that you can go to casinos. So it’s everywhere, 24/7,” said a spokesman.
The introduction of telephone and internet betting means that gamblers equipped with credit cards can place bets easily and privately at any time of day.
According to Horse Racing Ireland, the amount spent on off-course betting nearly doubled from €1.17bn in 2000 to €2.26bn in 2004.
And although casinos are illegal in Ireland under the 1956 Gaming and Lotteries Act, more and more are springing up because operators can circumvent the Act simply by applying for planning permission for a private members’ club.
Gamblers Anonymous, which was set up in the US in 1957, holds meetings every week in 30 separate towns and cities, ranging from Coothill in Monaghan to Enniscorthy in Wexford. There are also meetings in Dublin seven nights a week.
“GA is a family, brothers and sisters, we all help each other. Many meetings makes it easy, few meetings makes it difficult, no meetings makes it impossible. It’s a simple as that,” said the spokesman.
There are now hundreds of new high street betting shops around the country which are far more welcoming than the smoky, litter-strewn venues of old.
Last year, the largest chain, Paddy Power, increased its turnover by 28% to €1.16bn and made profits of €61m while others, such as Boyle Sports, Hacketts and Celtic Bookmakers, are also expanding at a rapid rate.
The GA spokesman said said the people attending their low-key meetings came from all kinds of backgrounds.
“But they’re all in for the one reason – it’s ruining their lives.”
In the 19 years since he joined the organisation, at least 14 gamblers have died by suicide.
“They get themselves in so much debt and they just couldn’t cope. They end up living in the streets with nothing and they just fear even going to prison,” he said.
The members who attend Gambles Anonymous are given 20 questions and those who answer ’yes’ to seven of them are considered to be gambling addicts. They are given support material and encouraged to quit by other members.
“I gambled for 35 years. I was down in hell but I came out of it and I’m doing well with the help of Gamblers Anonymous. It’s them that have dragged me along,” said the spokesman.
He added that in his worst days, he would sit on O’Connell Street in Dublin with a friend and gamble on the next car that came round the corner – its colour, registration, anything.
Another member of GA, who is based in Cork, said he had wasted around €250,000 before he quit.
“But since I’ve come into GA, they’ve helped me to get my life together. It’s brought me back from the depths of despair,” he said.
The middle aged man said he had been off gambling for a year but was still taking it one day at a time
“I can’t even have a bet on the toss of a coin. Gambling is everywhere you go, it’s in the news, it’s in the radio. It’s very hard, it’s not easy.”
The Gamblers Anonymous helpline is 01-2859552 in Dublin and 087-2859552 in Cork.
The organisation is holding a week of open meetings in Dublin from September 10-17.
