Intercounty GAA players are six times more likely to develop a gambling addiction than the average person, new research has found. 

The findings, published in the Irish Journal of Medical Science, found that 4.8% of respondents could be considered problem gamblers. 

By contrast, the prevalence among the general population is 0.8%. 

On Newstalk Daily, Associate Professor at the University of Limerick Dr Kieran Murray said there is an increasing awareness of the impact gambling has. 

“Gambling now has a DSM code for a medical illness, with widespread harms in terms of mental health issues - in particular suicidality,” he warned. 

“I think we probably have enough research now that we can’t dismiss it at this stage.” 

Dr Murray added that the GAA has banned all gambling sponsorship of sport, describing this as “real leadership” which other organisations have not shown. 

“Numerous studies have shown that athletes are more prone to addictive gambling behaviours,” he said. 

“It seems there are a couple of reasons for that; they feel they may have a knowledge of the sport - giving them a competitive advantage. 

“Two, there’s a theory out there that in the off season, sitting on buses and during down time when they’re injured, it can provide that dopamine hit that you may get playing elite sports in stadiums.” 

'Complete carnage'

Also on the podcast, Armagh football legend Oisín McConville recalled how when he started gambling at the age of 14. 

“It was a smoke filled room at the back of a pub,” he said. 

“I was instantly attracted to everything that was going on there. 

“That soon escalated and I tried to recreate the buzz I was getting on a football pitch in the bookies. 

“To begin with, that was small amounts but that soon increased and continued to increase. 

“So too did the time to do the things I was willing to do to feed my addiction.” 

Mr McConville added that he soon realised he got a “serious buzz” out of gambling and thought the “possibilities were endless”: 

He dreamed of expensive football boots, then a new car or a large house. 

“Those material things really meant very little in the end,” he said. 

“I think of the last four years of my gambling and there was no buzz; there was no buzz from winning or losing or anything else. 

“But I couldn't arrest it at that stage because I was in the midst of a gambling addiction. Compulsive gamblers are compulsive liars. 

“My life at that stage was complete carnage.” 

Recovery

Such was the emotional burden of his gambling addiction that he began to feel suicidal - the memory of which now "fills me full of dread”. 

“Like, if my son came to me and said that was how he felt, I mean, that would fill me full of dread and sadness but that was the way I felt at that time," Mr McConville said. 

“That is one of the reasons why I suppose I have had the long-term recovery that I've had. 

“Because as I said, that particularly scared me when I did think back on it.”

Mr McConville’s second last bet was £20,000 on a horse - which he lost. 

Not long afterwards, he told his brother and sister what he was going through. 

“It was a very, very, very tough conversation,” he added. 

“Because not only was I admitting to them, but I was saying it out loud..

“So, I was sort of admitting it to myself And that was the first time I'd ever done that, you know, out loud.

“I'd always had those internal thoughts where I thought, you know, I really need to get my act together, I really need to admit this to somebody else. 

“But that was the first time I'd voiced it and said it out loud.” 

After he sought professional help, Mr McConville soon realised that he was “the archetypal person” of an addict. 

“I fitted all the bills and I would find it very difficult to hold my hands up,” he said. 

“But once I did then, once I surrendered to it, things got better from there.

“I spent 13 weeks in that treatment centre and I came out in February 2005.”

After he completed the programme, he began to pay people back the money he owed them, something he found “very satisfying”. 

Two decades on, he works in intervention and serves as an ambassador for GamblingCare.ie. 

Anyone who thinks they might need help with a gambling addiction can contact the Samaritans on 116 123 for confidential advice. 

Main image: Footballers and a gambling website. Picture by: Alamy.com.