A cross-party team of Northern Ireland MLAs, including Sinn Fein’s Philip McGuigan, UUP deputy leader Robbie Butler, the DUP’s Stephen Dunne and SDLP’s Justin McNulty, lined up against Irish TDs Aidan Farrelly and Darren O’Rourke at the Civil Service Pavilion at Stormont.
The event, organised to highlight calls for tighter regulation of gambling advertising and sponsorship in sport, also featured campaigners with lived experience, including Declan Creggan from Gambling With Lives and James Grimes of The Big Step.
Sinn Fein’s Philip McGuigan on the pitch
Speaking pitch side, UUP MLA Robbie Butler said gambling addiction should be treated in the same way as other public health issues.
“Gambling is very addictive. It’s just like alcohol, just like drugs. Sadly, we know from families who’ve spoken to the All Party Group that many people have taken their lives, with gambling addiction at the root,” he said.
Mr Butler said he believed tighter rules were needed to protect young fans. “Young people look up to sporting heroes. When gambling is normalised through sponsorship and advertising, that’s where the danger lies,” he added.
“We’ve removed tobacco advertising, and it didn’t kill the industry. Alcohol has restrictions too. Gambling should be treated the same way but this is not about big brother or a nanny state putting restrictions on people.”
Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan, who chairs the All Party Group on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling, also called for urgent action to curb the level of advertising tied to football.
“We’re not talking about banning gambling — it’s a legal pursuit — but it causes real societal harm, and we want to see it treated as a public health issue, just as we did with tobacco,” he said.
The Northern Ireland Assembly won 6-1 over their Irish counterparts.
He pointed to moves already made in the Republic, where restrictions prevent gambling adverts before the watershed.
The laws were introduced under the Gambling Regulation Act that have already placed strict limits on advertising.
Gambling promotions are now banned on television, radio and online between 5:30am and 9pm, while restrictions also apply to sponsorship deals and the use of credit cards for betting.
The measures, which came into effect earlier this year, were designed to reduce children’s exposure to gambling and to treat addiction as a public health issue rather than solely a matter of personal responsibility.
“Fans here are being bombarded with adverts before, during and after Premier League matches. For young people watching their sporting heroes, that normalises betting in a very dangerous way,” the Sinn Fein MLA said.
Mr McGuigan also backed the introduction of a statutory levy on gambling companies to fund treatment and prevention.
Teams of cross party and cross border politicians today united on the football pitch to play in The Big Step five-a-side tournament aimed at highlighting the proliferation of gambling advertising in sport and growing exposure of young people to harmful marketing.- Photo: Pacemaker
News Catch Up – Friday 12th September
“That money could fund education, prevention and treatment services here in the north. Gambling firms are clever – they spend hundreds of millions targeting their audience.
“The only way to protect young people is to ban gambling advertising,” he said.
The football itself provided a lighter backdrop to the serious discussion, with the MLAs securing a convincing 6-1 win over their Oireachtas counterparts.