Councillors have effectively banned any casinos from Fermoy in the future as they outlawed licences for the facilities at this week's council meeting. 

The motion by Cllr Noel McCarthy adopted a similar measure made in the 1980s in Mitchelstown, which bans the facilities in the area. 

Cllr McCarthy’s motion was centred around the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956. Essentially the motion uses a piece of the legislation to allow individual local authorities to rescind the act in their jurisdiction, allowing them to block any developments. 

The motion was adopted unanimously by councillors and after the meeting, Cllr McCarthy said that the move was about safeguarding children. 

“This needs to be done because we had two applications in Fermoy in the last three years where casinos were trying to get planning to open in the town. 

Full story in this week’s Print & Digital Edition