BOOKMAKERS IN Northern Ireland could open on Sundays, ending a decades-old ban, under proposed legislation.
A draft law governing betting, which has been put out for consultation, would bring Northern Ireland into line with bookies’ practices in the Republic and in Britain.
Gambling is already allowed on-track at Sunday race meetings and online and the Stormont Minister for Social Development Alex Attwood believes the law needs to be brought up to date.
The SDLP Minister is proposing bookies pay a levy to fund charities that help those with chronic and addictive gambling problems. One person in 50 in the North has a gambling problem, more than four times the figure in Britain.
Announcing his proposals and the consultation process, Mr Attwood said: “My priority will be the public interest; striking a balance between developing gambling as a leisure pursuit and minimising its harmful effects. These have been the standards I have adopted and am adopting in regulating other industries including the drinks industry and the shops trade.”
Mr Attwood is proposing a new statutory social responsibility code of conduct for bookies. He is also is proposing his own department could become the single regulator for gambling. At present licensing and enforcement is shared by the courts, the North’s 26 district councils and the PSNI.
The Minister believes the law is outdated and needs to reflect current leisure practice. He has been criticised by Sunday observance groups for his stance on the liberalising of Sunday shopping and drinking.
But his proposals have been welcomed by figures in the gambling industry. A spokesman for Paddy Power, which operates a chain of eight betting shops in the greater Belfast area, said his company “would be a great supporter” of liberalisation.