Cllr calls for local opposition to Finglas gambling arcade’s bid to extend opening hours

People Before Profit Councillor in Dublin North West, Conor Reddy, has called on residents, community organisations and local businesses to oppose a new planning application seeking to extend the opening hours of the gambling arcade on Finglas Main Street to midnight, seven days a week.

The application, submitted by Leeside Leisure Centre Ltd, seeks to amend a condition imposed by An Coimisiún Pleanála when permission was granted for the arcade last year.

The original permission restricted opening hours to 10pm to protect residents and was limited to three years to allow the impact of the business on Finglas Village to be assessed.

Councillor Reddy, who opposed the original application alongside local residents and community organisations, said:

“Last year, many of us warned that allowing this gambling arcade to open could be the start of a slippery slope.

“We’ve seen it elsewhere in Dublin, where gambling arcades have opened with restricted hours and then sought to extend them once established.

“Unfortunately, that’s exactly what’s happening here.

“Gambling arcades are predatory businesses.

“They make their money from people losing theirs, often people who are already struggling with addiction, debt and financial hardship.

“Extending the opening hours means two more hours of access to high-frequency gambling every night of the week, with all the potential harm that brings.

“There are also very real concerns about antisocial behaviour, late-night disturbance and the impact these businesses have on efforts to revitalise our village with the Finglas Improvement Scheme and other efforts progressing at last.

“We’ve been working for years to attract better services, businesses, and economic activity into Finglas. Gambling arcades are not the kind of development our community needs.”

Councillor Reddy also questioned the justification for relaxing the existing planning conditions so soon after the arcade opened.

“The 10pm closing time wasn’t plucked out of thin air. It was imposed to protect residents living in the immediate vicinity of the arcade.

“The permission was also limited to three years so that the impact on Finglas Village could be properly assessed.

“Now, just a year after opening, the operators want those restrictions relaxed.

“I don’t believe we should be entertaining this at all, certainly not before the original permission has run its course and its impact has been properly examined.”

Councillor Reddy concluded by encouraging local people to make their voices heard:

“I’m asking residents, local businesses and community organisations to make planning observations before the deadline of 23 November – I’ll be helping anyone who needs assistance with that.

“I’m also asking people to contact me to share their thoughts on the arcade, a year on from its opening.

“If there have been problems, we need to make sure those experiences are heard and considered by planners.

“Finglas deserves a thriving village centre, with businesses and services that contribute something positive to our community.

“We shouldn’t be making it easier for gambling businesses to expand their operations at the expense of that vision.”