Cork rural communities won’t back casinos

Rural communities are mobilising to stop gaming companies setting up casinos in their localities.

Cork county councillors believe that gaming companies are trying to locate in smaller towns ahead of new Government legislation which will make it more difficult for them to do so when it is introduced next year.

Members of the Charleville/Fermoy Municipal District Council in Co Cork have asked council officials to check with their legal advisers to ensure they have the power to prevent casinos opening up in their area of governance. They were told that a reserve function of the municipal function allows this, but they asked for clarity from the council’s legal department before moving to enact it.