{"id":464208,"date":"2026-05-02T01:55:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T01:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/464208\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T01:55:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T01:55:21","slug":"kieran-cuddihys-liveline-reveals-ominous-shifts-in-irelands-public-mood-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/464208\/","title":{"rendered":"Kieran Cuddihy\u2019s Liveline reveals ominous shifts in Ireland\u2019s public mood \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

It sounds like something from a gangster movie set in 1920s Chicago, but a turf war is apparently being fought in Ireland for control of the numbers game, even if the battle for lucrative gambling income detailed on Today with David McCullagh<\/b> (RT\u00c9<\/a> Radio 1, weekdays) is, thankfully, neither lethal nor illegal. <\/p>\n

But while the dispute caused by the National Lottery\u2019s<\/a> push to ban bookmakers offering bets on its draws is a bust in terms of visceral drama, it hits the jackpot when it comes to self-serving virtue signalling. <\/p>\n

With a lottery-commissioned report finding that the market for secondary betting on Lotto draws is worth \u20ac828 million, of which \u20ac81 million would otherwise go to good causes, McCullagh<\/a> speaks to Sharon Byrne of the Irish Bookmakers Association, who, predictably enough, takes a different view. <\/p>\n

She characterises the mooted move as a market-share grab by a monopoly that has run out of other revenue avenues, bemoaning that Lotto machines are placed \u201cin the middle of the chocolate bars in the petrol stations where children are frequenting\u201d. <\/p>\n

Such societal concern is touching, but Byrne is also concerned that the National Lottery\u2019s proposal will deprive people of their simple pleasures. \u201cWhat you\u2019re actually affecting are the punters who just enjoy spending 10c or 50c on their birthdays,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

At this stage the only likely flutter is that of listeners\u2019 heart rates soaring at the multimillion gambling industry passing itself off as the altruistic guardian of innocent pastimes.<\/p>\n

Never one for easy credulity, McCullagh sounds dubious about the bookies\u2019 selflessness: \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t be offering this product if you weren\u2019t making money on it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Byrne counters that betting on the lottery numbers probably only accounts for 5 per cent of bookmakers\u2019 total income, but she still defends the practice, saying it\u2019s no different from a wager at the Punchestown Festival.<\/p>\n

The host, however, remains unimpressed: \u201cSurely you can offer your punters something else to bet on.\u201d <\/p>\n

One imagines you\u2019d get good odds on that all right.<\/p>\n

\n

The core of the National Lottery is that societal dividend<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Cian Murphy<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When it comes to overstating a case, however, it\u2019s evens between the bookies and the Lotto. Speaking to Justin McCarthy on Morning Ireland<\/b> (RT\u00c9 Radio 1, weekdays), Cian Murphy, the chief executive of Premier Lotteries Ireland, which holds the licence to run the National Lottery, advocates for a ban by stressing the philanthropic element of his organisation. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe core of the National Lottery is that societal dividend,\u201d Murphy gamely insists, emphasising that 30c of each \u20ac1 spent goes to charitable areas. \u201cThe good-cause element is absolutely key to players,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

So that\u2019s why they flock to buy multiple tickets when the jackpot reaches eight figures. <\/p>\n

McCarthy isn\u2019t convinced. \u201cPeople don\u2019t feel the Lotto is a charitable donation,\u201d the host says. \u201cThey play it because they feel they can win a pile of cash.\u201d And, McCarthy observes, players can win up to \u20ac400 on three numbers at the bookies as opposed to \u20ac10 on the lottery. <\/p>\n

Ultimately, the anchor\u2019s hackles are raised more by Murphy\u2019s portrayal of the Lotto as an unselfish font of benevolence than by his call for a ban, much as McCarthy sounds miffed by his guest\u2019s rosy depiction of bookies\u2019 betting products. Ultimately, as McCarthy says: \u201cGambling is gambling.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fairness, the gambling industry is hardly alone in putting a self-servingly saintly spin on less-than-lofty actions, as underlined by McCarthy\u2019s interview with Minister of State for Migration Colm Brophy on the Government\u2019s decision to withdraw hotel accommodation for Ukrainian refugees. <\/p>\n

\"FineFine Gael’s Colm Brophy was upbeat about the issue. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw <\/p>\n

While the minister concedes that the measure will benefit the State in terms of savings, he frames the removal of such supports \u2013 always intended to be temporary, he notes \u2013 in the sunny language of a life coach. \u201cWe want people to be able to avail of choices,\u201d Brophy says; the choices being a return to their homeland \u2013 still at war \u2013 or a search for housing here.<\/p>\n

Asked whether removing Ukrainians from hotels will swamp an already scarce rental market, the minister is again upbeat. \u201cWe believe there is going to be sufficient capacity,\u201d he says, without offering much factual basis for his optimism. <\/p>\n

His mood only dips when McCarthy wonders if the measure will \u201cdestroy\u201d the bonds between Ukrainian and local communities. Rather, Brophy says, by building \u201clong-term paths\u201d for refugees who wish to remain it is \u201cactually enhancing the integration of Ukrainians with Ireland\u201d. <\/p>\n

The tenor of the interview is neatly, if somewhat generously, captured by Kieran Cuddihy, host of Liveline<\/b> (RT\u00c9 Radio 1), who sums up the minister\u2019s message as: \u201c\u2018We\u2019re doing them a favour\u2019 is it how it sounded.\u201d But, as Cuddihy discovers, it\u2019s a favour that some of his callers welcome.<\/p>\n

\"LivelineLiveline host Kieran Cuddihy was fielding complaints. Photograph: RT\u00c9 <\/p>\n

True, Ukrainians sound unnerved by the decision. Maria, the blind mother of a toddler residing in a hotel in Bray, Co Wicklow, is worried about what happens next. \u201cI\u2019m really lost,\u201d she says. \u201cThere is no safe place in Ukraine.\u201d <\/p>\n

While Maria\u2019s circumstances are exceptional, her anxiety is echoed by compatriots who phone in. Other callers agree with the Government\u2019s decision, however. \u201cI think we\u2019ve been more than overgenerous,\u201d says Ciaran. <\/p>\n

Hunting for a new flat himself, Ciaran believes Ukrainians have an undue advantage in the rental market thanks to the accommodation recognition payment that landlords receive for housing refugees. \u201cI don\u2019t mind paying my way. I pay all my taxes,\u201d Ciaran adds, but his annoyance at a perceived lack of a level playing field is palpable.<\/p>\n

Rachel, meanwhile, casts doubt on the notion that nowhere in Ukraine is safe, basing her assertion on anecdotal evidence \u2013 \u201cI know a family that went back over for a month\u201d \u2013 and an admittedly tenuous trust in the Government\u2019s wisdom: \u201cMuch as I despise Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael, I highly doubt they\u2019d send people back to places that were unsafe.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rachel expresses sympathy for refugees, but she nonetheless \u201cstruggles\u201d with the testimony of Ukrainian callers to the continuing lethality across the country.<\/p>\n

Though the issue at hand is the removal of refugee supports, such contributions seem underpinned by the same simmering, if misdirected, sense of discontent and resentment among the fabled \u201csqueezed middle\u201d that drove last month\u2019s fuel protests. (Similar sentiments are expressed more stridently on Wednesday\u2019s show by Teresa, a carer in Wicklow whose view of the country is so doomy that the host feels the need to push back.)<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Top Ukrainian official questions Irish move to phase out housing supportsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The complaints that Cuddihy fields don\u2019t make for edifying listening, but they hint at ominous shifts in public mood. Talk about high stakes.<\/p>\n

Moment of the week<\/p>\n

With household budgets tightening, Katie Hannon and Colm \u00d3 Mong\u00e1in solicit advice on what to do with leftovers on Drivetime<\/b> (RT\u00c9 Radio 1, weekdays). <\/p>\n

Chef Edward Hayden offers tips on reviving such grub for consumption (avoid microwaving if possible), but as he describes how he poaches overripe pears \u2013 a particular bugbear of \u00d3 Mong\u00e1in\u2019s \u2013 his line repeatedly cuts out. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s really gone,\u201d Hannon says when Hayden\u2019s voice disappears for a second time. \u00d3 Mong\u00e1in can\u2019t help himself: \u201cThere\u2019s nothing left over in that interview.\u201d <\/p>\n

Kudos for not allowing any opportunity for wordplay to go to waste.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It sounds like something from a gangster movie set in 1920s Chicago, but a turf war is apparently…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,92702,46359,24554,18,189695,8752,19,17,203911,117601,49975,23900,14730,1181,2264],"class_list":{"0":"post-464208","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-colm-brophy","10":"tag-colm-o-mongain","11":"tag-david-mccullagh","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-fuel-protests","14":"tag-housing-crisis","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-irish-bookmakers-association","18":"tag-justin-mccarthy","19":"tag-katie-hannon","20":"tag-kieran-cuddihy","21":"tag-national-lottery","22":"tag-rte","23":"tag-ukraine-crisis"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116502497129258419","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}