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Popular Culture Review
The expansion of the number of clubs coincided also with the booming
popularity of poker gaming throughout Ireland and the world.
With a 180 degree turnabout, in 2006 the same Minister announced that he
was going to raid the clubs and close them down. His announcement raised a
political firestorm of protest as there were now some 46 clubs around Ireland.
Within a week, he backed down and deferred judgment to a newly appointed
government study group that would make a report about what should be done
with casinos.7 Their report was written, and it was given to the government in
early 2007.8 The Minister of Justice was defeated in his 2007 reelection bid (for
a seat in the Dail), and a new minister, Brian Lenihan, is in his place. He has
studied the report, and he has indicated that he will introduce legislation for
limited-regulated casinos in 2008.
Mv Walking Tour of Central Dublin
Before arriving in Dublin, I purchased a city map from my local Barnes and
Noble. I plotted addresses of several casino clubs (identified on Google) in
Central Dublin. After my Aer Lingus flight landed, my trip began with a
walking tour to the sites of eleven casinos.9 There are an additional dozen
casinos in greater Dublin that I missed. Walking Dublin is fun, but there are
limits.
The facilities I saw had low-key operations. While they wanted customers,
they did not want public attention, lest they might generate negative feelings that
could activate new enforcement efforts by the Minister of Justice. Their manner
of placement and size reminded me of the legal casino clubs of London.
However, they did not meet the standards of ambience found in London clubs;
rather they were more like down-market casinos found in hinterlands (the
provinces) of England, Wales, and Scotland.
Several casinos were tucked into side streets. Others on major thoroughfares
had barely recognizable signs near their doors. The Colossus and Jackpot
casinos were on a “Montague” street that was not even on my tourist map. The
nearby Mayfair Casino was on Harcourt, a major thoroughfare with government
offices. I had to inquire more than one time at local businesses before I found its
unnumbered location. It was marked by only a small non-lighted and faded neon
sign above a single doorway. The same nondescript entry was found for the 78
Club on Aungier Street, although the casino’s website claims that it is the largest
table and machine casino in Dublin.10
Another “hidden” casino was seeking a more substantial role in the gaming
scene. Google told me that the Sporting Emporium was near Grafton Street (a
major pedestrian market street near Trinity College and Stephens Green) on
Anne’s Lane.11 It took three tries and several inquiries (one resulting in my
following directions to a sports wear store) before I found an Anne’s Lane off of
South Anne Street. There I found a three-story, 12,000 square foot building with
a casino facility inside. The building interior is completely new and of a modem
style. It has a golf theme with displays of 18th hole green flags signed by winners
of tournaments such as the Master’s and the British Open. The Sporting