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IRELAND HAS THE third highest per capita rate of gambling losses in the world.
That’s according to research which shows that as a nation we lose about €470 per adult on different forms of gambling.
The stats are from last year when gambling losses in Ireland totalled €2.1 billion.
The research by industry experts H2 Gambling Capital was published in The Economist this week and showed Ireland behind only Australia and Singapore in gambling terms.
About half of the gambling losses in Ireland comes from online with traditional betting the second most popular method.
Other gaming outlets such as casinos are less popular in Ireland relative to other markets, like the Unites States which was fifth overall in gambling losses.
In the US losses totalled €110 billion with casinos taking the vast majority of that but, as The Economist points out, the country is estimated to have an illegal sports betting market worth €140 billion.
On average, Australians had the most severe losses and were down about €930 per person for the year. Most of Australia’s losses comes from gaming machines.
The Economist notes that Ireland has only recently passed the US in the gambling stakes after the online market was opened up.
Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan says she believes problem gambling is going unreported in Irish society.
“While issues around problem drinking and drug abuse have been tackled in a more head on fashion in recent years, the issue of problem gambling has been relatively ignored by politicians,” Boylan says.
“Because it is not as visible as other problems, politicians and certain sections of the media seem to think that it is not a pressing matter. However, I think it is one of the gravest issues facing Irish society.”
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That’s a shame to hear. I used to love reading Montague’s poetry for the Leaving Cert and sure enough he showed when I needed him on the big day. A dolmen round my childhood. R.I.P.
The light, tarred skin
of the currach rides
and receives the current,
rolls and responds to
the harsh sea swell.
Inside the wooden ribs
a slithering frenzy; a sheen
of black-barred silver-
green and flailing mackerel:
the iridescent hoop
of a gasping sea trout.
As a fish gleams most
fiercely before it dies,
so the scales of the sea-hag
shine with a hectic
putrescent glitter:
luminous, bleached—
white water—
that light in the narrows
before a storm breaks. ………RIP John Montague
Hey diddle diddle The cat did a piddle, All over the kitchen mat, The little dog laughed to see such fun, And piddled all over the cat.
@michael o’brien
“The disappointed cat / Reflected in the glass / Reflects on where it’s at / And that it shall not pass.” I made up that one last week when the cat was trying to get out the kitchen window and I closed it in time. Suppose Poet’s Corner’s safe from us both Michael. RIP Mr Montague filíocht mór. Ar dheish Dé go raibh a anam.
@john o Driscoll,I like your poem John,I always liked poems that rhymed.No harm havin a bit of a sense of humour.
The rhymes the thing for many Michael. And a sense of humour carries us a long way past where we’d otherwise give up always. But beat and rhythm, imagery and sense don’t necessarily need to rhyme though they should always scan imo. Was thinking as I wrote that how the real cat in the kitchen appeared also to be outside on the window ledge at the same time (it being dark outside as in Country dark) as he gazed at his reflection, a photon cat observing a molecular cat or vice Versa.
And thought of calling the insta-ditty “An answer to Schrodinger” but immediately thought it pseud and overly clever-clogs and reading this haven’t changed opinion. That’s why great poets like Montague are great; regardless of rhyme or the absence there of. Their poetry is real, not pretentious or forced. It blows the heart wide open with apols to Mr Heaney.
I always found poetry difficult, until I discovered JOHN Montegue….you Sir, deciphered poetry for me, where others shrouded it in obscure meaning. For that, I THANK YOU. May you Rest In Peace.
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