Inishowen and Letterkenny councillors have today voted to allow the legalisation of gaming machines in urban areas.
Votes were held by councillors in the two municipal areas to adopt Part III of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956.
The amendment paves the way for the regulation of slot machine operators, which had been restricted in Letterkenny and Buncrana Urban Districts in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.
Inishowen Councillors voted in favour of the measure by five votes to four.
Letterkenny Councillors voted in favour by six votes to three.
Strong debate took place on the issue in Letterkenny this evening, where Cllr Liam Blaney proposed a deferral of the motion until councillors were fully informed on the matter. He was the only representative to vote in favour of a deferral and the lack of support for his proposal paved the way for the final vote.
The matter was opened to public consultation in recent months ahead of today’s vote. However, concerns were raised over the 96 public submissions which were received by the Letterkenny MD.
Local councillors were told that one member of the public was sent an acknowledgement letter for their submission, but this individual then informed the council that they hadn’t made a submission in the first place.
Cllr Gerry McMonagle commented that many submissions looked generic and asked why so many details were redacted from the documents. Cllr Liam Blaney added that he observed many of the submissions had the same handwriting and many identified one specific business in Letterkenny. “I have my doubts about some of them,” he told the council.
Cllr Ciaran Brogan, who brought the motion forward to the Letterkenny MD, said that action taken today was focused on regulating and securing existing gaming operators and it would not pave the way for a “Las Vegas in the Hills of Donegal“.
“At the end of the day it will be the courts that award the licences, what we are doing today is a housekeeping exercise,” Cllr Brogan said.
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