Sir, – With major focus, in past days, on the furore generated by the Nphet advice on indoor dining, it would be regrettable if President Michael D Higgins’s noteworthy views on gambling advertisements went unheralded.
Not for the first time he spoke of gambling doing “so much damage to families and individuals”. Adding that the advertisements were accompanied by “totally minimal, tokenistic invitations to be responsible... not good enough”, he said.
I could not agree more, especially in the context of Euro2020 where, for instance, one such TV advertisement starts off by invoking the attributes of dedication, passion and drama, before eventually revealing itself as a betting commercial. No mention of vulnerability, addiction or family stress and conflict in its seductive, well honed messaging. To quote Mr Higgins “not good enough”.
– Yours, etc,
MICHAEL GANNON,
Kilkenny.