News 8,004 views since yesterday

Martin Stackpoole recalls gambling becoming "the centre of everything"

RTÉ News' interview clip pairs the former Kerry hurler's account of addiction with research on online betting accounts and operator prompts.

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RTÉ News Story of November 5, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of RTÉ News's most watched videos since yesterday, with 8,004 views.

Former Kerry hurler opens up about gambling addiction | #rtenews

Martin Stackpoole describes a gambling habit that became consuming long before it became a major financial burden. By his early teens, the former Kerry hurler says, betting occupied his thoughts.

In RTÉ News' short interview clip, he recalls first entering a bookmakers at around ten years old. Gambling then moved from something he did to something around which his life revolved.

"And it quickly turned into something that I wasn't just doing, it was, it was at the centre of everything," he says.

Stackpoole also explains how a mobile phone can make that behaviour easy to conceal: someone can place a bet without others knowing and carry on as though everything is normal.

RTÉ's accompanying description cites Economic and Social Research Institute findings that more than half of people who opened an online gambling account went on to open another. Many survey participants said their most recent online betting session followed an operator's email, app notification or advertisement.

The upload has drawn about 8,000 views since yesterday. Although uploaded this week, the clip carries an on-screen date of 4 November 2024. Stackpoole's account centres on the distinction between gambling's visible financial consequences and the mental hold it had already taken.

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