A SLEW OF objections has been lodged against plans for a “gaming and amusement arcade” in the north Dublin suburb of Ballymun.

HSE addiction services, youth and community projects, sports clubs, businesses, residents, TDs and councillors have condemned the proposal, for one of the most socially disadvantaged areas in the state, as inappropriate and harmful.

Plans for the facility show rows of machines with individual seats in front of them, raising acute fears locally that slot and other gambling machines will be installed. The unit is just metres from a HSE drug treatment clinic.

Dublin city council granted planning permission for a similar gaming and amusement arcade in nearby Finglas village in April, a decision that is now under appeal to An Bord Pleanála.

The Ballymun applicant, Peter McNally, plans to open the arcade from 10am to 10pm daily. Planning documents state that the proposed arcade will “feature a diverse range of gaming machines for interactive entertainment”, adding that customers will pay to use the machines.

Floor plans for the proposed arcade filed with Dublin City Council. Dublin City Council Dublin City Council

A representative of HSE addiction services in Ballymun described bringing such an arcade to a deprived community as “exploitative”.

Ballymun Local Drugs and Alcohol Task Force also submitted a strongly worded objection, warning of the likelihood of drug-dealing near the arcade. This is because the unit would give dealers a ready-made excuse to loiter nearby and to have large amounts of cash on them, if they were stopped by gardaí.

“This would further undermine the already fraying sense of community safety and cohesion,” the task force warned.

It said people with drug debts, who are at risk of intimidation and violence, often place themselves further in debt by trying to gamble their way out, adding that the proposed arcade would increase this risk.

Vivienne Bryan, principal of nearby Holy Spirit Boys’ National School, said the school did not have a school lotto because it could not encourage any pathway to gambling.

Bryan said the school’s families and children were trying to build a better life in the face of poverty, exclusion, addiction and trauma, with financial pressure and stress a lifelong issue.

People Before Profit councillor Conor Reddy told The Journal at least 30 written objections were sent to the council by the local community. Reddy said a gaming arcade is not what the community wants or needs.

Loan sharks

The Star Project, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation and family support charity, warned of the pressure the arcade would place on the families and children of people gambling there.

The charity warned of the known links between gambling and domestic violence. It said more people would end up borrowing money from loan sharks.

Along with other local services, it warned of the link between gambling and drug and alcohol use, and raised concerns over the normalisation of gambling for children and young people in the area.

A 2023 ESRI review of available research found that problem gambling is particularly prevalent among young men, people in disadvantaged communities and those with addiction and mental health problems. The Health Research Board has reached the same conclusions.

Ballymun Communications, a not-for-profit company funded by the government as a community employment scheme, told the council: “Gambling services are not neutral: they actively extract money from people already under pressure.”

Ballymun needs investment in services that promote dignity, participation, education and community development.

“This application undermines all of that.”

Paul McAuliffe, Fianna Fáil TD for the area, raised concern over the proposed arcade’s proximity to the post office, where people collect social welfare payments.

Rory Hearne, Social Democrats TD for the area, noted how close the facility was to schools and youth centres, and argued that an arcade would be “entirely inappropriate” for such a disadvantaged area.

“For gambling businesses to profit, their users must too often lose large sums of their own money,” Hearne said.

Councillors Mary Callaghan of the Social Democrats, Anthony Connaghan and Leslie Kane of Sinn Féin and Keith Connolly of Fianna Fáil also objected. Local politicians argued strongly that the proposal is not in line with the Dublin city development plan.

Plans

The location of the proposed arcade on the Ballymun Road, near the junction with Santry Avenue, is currently a vacant retail unit on the ground floor of an apartment block.

There are at least eight primary and secondary schools within a 1km radius of the location.

There is already a 24-hour casino gaming arcade 2.5km away in the Omni Shopping Centre in Santry.

Appeals against the proposed arcade in Finglas were lodged by Finglas Addiction Support Team, a local service provider working with 600 individuals, and by representatives of the local Tidy Towns group and of St Canice’s Church, among others.

The planning documents lodged for Ballymun state that there at least two staff members will be employed, and there will be a security desk at the entrance, with staff trained to prevent loitering and deter antisocial behaviour.