Northern Ireland presses Westminster for further gambling advertising restrictions
By Lucy Wynne
The Northern Ireland Assembly's All-Party Group (APG) on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling is calling for a reform of gambling advertising in the country.
Regulations are gaining momentum in Ireland after the parliament passed its wide-ranging Gambling Regulation Bill on 16 October, followed by President Micheal D Higgins signing The Gambling Regulation Act into law on 23 October 2024.
While the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) will be focusing on establishing a new licensing framework and self-exclusion register, the APG are pushing Westminster to implement the advertising changes.
The key measures would include a watershed on gambling advertising between 5:30am to 9:00pm across both TV and radio. A de facto ban would also be applied to gambling-related content on social media.
APG chair, Philip McGuigan, said: “This is the first comprehensive reform of gambling law in the south of Ireland in almost 70 years. The legislation also specifically prohibits advertising for gambling which may be attractive to children.”
An additional ban would be targeted towards any marketing content which could be attractive to children, including selling branded clothing or merchandise intended to be worn by children or selling items at events which may be attended by them.
This would naturally apply to sports companies, many of which use sponsorship deals from bookies on kits and merchandise.
Robbie Butler, APG vice chair, said: “This would prevent our children from being bombarded with gambling related marketing during sports broadcasts and those already experiencing gambling harm from being targeted by gambling companies on social media.
“Northern Ireland now stands alone as the only jurisdiction on these islands without updated gambling legislation since the advent of the internet.
“We know that unfortunately, the Northern Ireland executive does not have sufficient legislative time in this assembly mandate to take forward a gambling bill. However, there are steps that the government at Westminster can take now to protect the public in Northern Ireland and elsewhere from gambling harms.”
These decisions have been supported by a cross-border report between Maynooth University and Ulster University, which described how children and young people in Ireland are exposed to “extremely” high levels of gambling adverts through social media and sports events.
Butler continued: “The Government has the power under existing laws to introduce restrictions on gambling advertising in the UK similar to those in the Republic. This would prevent our children from being bombarded with gambling-related marketing during sports broadcasts and those already experiencing gambling harm from being targeted by gambling companies on social media.”