The demand was made by members of the All-Party Group of the Stormont Assembly on Gambling Harms Reduction, who wrote to DCMS Secretary of State Lisa Nandy to “bridge the gap on gambling advertising.”
Led by Chairman Philip McGuigan (Sinn Féin) and Deputy Robbie Butler (UUP), the All-Party Group considers Northern Ireland an outlier in gambling legislation within the UK.
Gambling in Northern Ireland is governed by the NI Betting, Gaming, Lotteries & Amusements Order of 1985, applied under a separate legal system.
The Order was amended in 2022 to allow gambling venues to operate on Sundays and to introduce new criminal liabilities. However, Stormont failed to approve any amendments related to the governance of online gambling.
MLAs believe that Northern Ireland is exposed by an outdated gambling framework, which provides no legislation for online gambling..