Irish Find Online Gambling's Charm

Published: Thursday, November 03, 2005 Online-Casinos.com

IRISH FIND GAMBLING'S CHARM

To the tune of Euro 70 million a week...and online gaming could bring in over Euro 100 million

The Irish love to gamble, according to a report in the Irish Independent this week that reveals: "Irish people are gambling over Euro 70 million a week and the figure is set to hit the Euro 100 million mark within the next two years, according to a new study.

With online gaming growing at a phenomenal rate of almost 70 percent per year, Irish gamblers are expected to part with over Euro 100 million per week by 2007, meaning the annual spend on gaming will have climbed to a staggering Euro 5.2 billion, the report continues.

In 2005 alone, the spend in the nation's betting shops will top the Euro 2.7 billion mark, according to industry estimates - up from the already healthy Euro 2.275 billion gambled during 2004.

On top of the spend in betting shops, online gaming is estimated to rake in well over Euro 100 million - Paddy Power alone took in Euro 175 million from its online business in the first half-year, although this includes revenue from its British online business.

Added to the online gaming take is the telephone betting business. On a per capita basis, this would put it just below the UK, where the weekly take on gaming is now estimated to be a staggering Euro 1.5 billion.