The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) has appointed Kathleen Gormley as its new Director of Compliance and Complaints, providing experience in delivering “robust” regulatory oversight and complaint resolution.
Gormley began her career practising at the criminal bar for multiple years prior to joining the Central Bank of Ireland’s Enforcement Division.
She then went on to hold several senior advisory roles for state regulators, including Assistant Head of Legal at the Pensions Authority and Assistant Director of Legal at Coimisiún na Meán.
According to GRAI, Gormley maintains “extensive experience’” advising on the implementation and operation of regulatory regimes.
The appointment comes just months after GRAI formally announced the opening of its licence application process, offering interested suitors a remote betting licence, remote betting intermediary licence and an in-person betting licence through the regulator’s online portal.
Following the implementation of new framework in Ireland, existing licences from the Office of the Revenue Commissioners are set to expire as of early July 2026 for online operators and December 2026 for land-based organisations.
Successful applicants from each respective sector will then enter the market under the new licence regime upon these dates, with GRAI inheriting the powers to enforce compliance and regulations from the previous market regulator.
The Totalisator Act 1929 and the Betting Act 1931 will be repealed under the new setup, replacing Ireland’s pre-existing gambling laws with a consolidated regulatory design to reflect more modern market practices.
GRAI welcomed the launch of the Gameplan initiative to combat gambling-related harm in sports on 24 April, offering tailored resources for athletes, coaches, mentors and wellbeing officers
