Bingo hall court case sure to pull a full house
TRADITIONALLY, bingo is more granny than grand jury.
But then again, most versions of the game do not involve the owners of a new €750,000 facility having a public stand-off with a senior garda over cash pots worth a small fortune for those behind the scenes.
Over the past week, the new Rock Bingo centre on Tramore Road in Cork city has been the focus of news of garda raids, High Court hearings and claims of an anti-gambling vendetta.
At the centre of the case is a cash bonanza worth hundreds of thousands of euro to businessmen and a leading charity, a fund which detractors say will effectively be taken away from smaller local charities and sports groups that cannot compete.
Just as controversial, the imminent court case — which has resulted in the business closing until the November 21 hearing — could set a precedent for Ireland’s charitable laws.
If the new venture is proven to be in the wrong, similar deals across the country may also have to stop, potentially ending a key fundraising avenue for charities and sporting groups.
The stand-off involves the Barber family, previous owners of the Waters Munster Glass business which went into liquidation in April, and Superintendent Charlie Barry of Togher Garda Station.
At the centre of the case are two connected questions:
* Should a private company be allowed to attach itself to a charity’s fundraising programme, while still keeping a significant proportion of the income involved?
* Is such an agreement an unintended by-product of a 50-year-old law which is effectively allowing businessmen to receive large amounts of money which would otherwise flow into the accounts of smaller charities and community groups?
Under the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956, a business can provide the service of a lottery game such as bingo on behalf of a charity — in this case the Mercy University Hospital Foundation (MUHF) — which has a gaming license for fundraising related purposes.
Charities and community/sports groups are the only bodies entitled to private lottery licenses, which are renewed annually. Under this legislation, a limit of 40% of what is taken in by the game can be put back into the cost of running the service. A further 10% of the gross takings go to the charity for which the bingo is being held.
The remainder — 50% of gross takings — is generally spent on the prize fund on offer to those taking part, which has a limit of €20,000, while all financial accounts must be provided to the local garda superintendent every seven days.
As the Rock Bingo facility can hold 1,000 people and runs five days a week, and since an average game of bingo will raise €10 per player in addition to further income from refreshments on offer, this is a significant amount of money.
Dave Barber, one of the co-owners of the family venture, told the Irish Examiner the wording of the legislation means the Rock Bingo development is acting within the law, as it has an agreement with MUHF to provide the service.
According to Mr Barber, the family contacted groups such as St Luke’s Foundation, Marymount Hospice and Garryduff sports club, all of which were initially interested before declining the offer.
“They were all contacted by the gardaí and various things were said to them that left them in a state of confusion. It was just put out there that they would be responsible for what happened in the hall, that is definitely not the case,” he said.
MUHF was also contacted, according to Mr Barber, but has chosen to stay involved.
While the businessman said he accepts the view raised by Supt Barry in a previous district court hearing — that the venture is like a major supermarket taking away from local shops — he does not accept there is anything wrong with this.
“Bingo is played by community associations and GAA clubs, it’s in pubs and bars all around the city every night. Will this take away from it? I doubt it, people are loyal to where they go.
“We approached all of the local community associations, we wrote to them and emailed them from April onwards about coming onboard with us and holding their nights here. Some of them haven’t engaged at all.”
Mr Barber is answering the first question by clearly stating that, in his view, he and his family are legally doing nothing wrong.
The 1956 act at the centre of his argument, however, also supports Supt Barry’s view.
In section 31 (1B), the act states that the local superintendent can question the application for the lottery based on “the number of periodical lotteries already in operation in the locality”.
While Supt Barry declined to comment when contacted by the Irish Examiner, stating that as the case has not concluded in the courts he cannot speak on the issue, his comments in previous district court hearings suggest this is among his concerns over the venture.
In Cork City alone, there are over two dozen regular bingo games offered to potential players, including those at the Bars GAA club in Togher, the SMA in Wilton and a number of others in the same district as the Barbers development.
The new business, it is argued, would divert the money from these groups to MUHF, with the Barbers taking a significant cut for their service — an issue which could cause difficulty for smaller organisations.
If the High Court rules in Supt Barry’s favour on November 21, it would set a clear precedent for joint charity-business ventures elsewhere.
Bingo may be unfairly labelled as a light-hearted night out for those living in the slow lane. But a potential €60,000 bill for the taxpayer should the Barber family win their case and seek payment of their legal fees, 30 jobs possibly on the line, small charities at risk of seeing their funding usurped by a larger entity and a senior garda in direct confrontation with the owners of a €750,000 business is no slow-lane matter.
The only game that really counts is just getting started.
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