Charleville/Fermoy district council likely to ban gaming arcades

By Sean O’Riordan

A municipal district council is likely to become the first in the country to ban the setting-up of gaming arcades in its jurisdiction.

Council officials told a meeting of the municipal council, which covers a large area of North Cork, that on foot of calls from local public representatives, they had sought legal advice. This pointed to allowing them to introduce bylaws to prevent gambling arcades being set up in their area.

The Charleville/Fermoy municipal district council covers not only those two towns, but a wide area that incorporates Mitchelstown, Doneraile, and numerous villages.

Initially, the municipal district council sought legal advice on a district-wide ban, after it emerged that the former Fermoy Town Council, disbanded in 2014, had brought in a bylaw that barred gaming arcades in its jurisdiction.

However, a gaming company, aware of that legislation, set up an arcade in the town, but on its periphery, where the bylaw didn’t apply, because it was in county council jurisdiction.

As the town grew, the former town council wasn’t able to impose its bylaws on the periphery of the town, which was controlled by the county council and didn’t have the same bylaws.

In the event, An Bord Pleanála ruled against the gaming company’s planning permission, on the grounds that the locality it had chosen, close to a number of secondary schools, wasn’t suitable.

In the meantime, another gaming arcade application has been lodged in Mitchelstown, which has also been appealed to An Bord Pleanála.

Cllr Kay Dawson told the municipal district council meeting that she understood the county council, back in the 1980s, had drafted a bylaw which specifically precluded the setting-up of gaming arcades in Mitchelstown.

Council officials said they were looking into their archives to see what bylaws were passed in Mitchelstown.

They said they would have to ensure the wording of the new bylaws was watertight to prevent court challenges.

A planning application was also recently lodged for a gaming arcade in Cobh.