Representatives of UK gaming giant Rank Group and Belfast city councillors have launched negotiations that could lead to development of a multimillion-pound casino that would be Northern Ireland’s first.
The province’s gambling laws do not permit casinos, but Rank executive Dan Waugh has met with lawmakers from the Sinn Fein, Alliance and SDLP parties to discuss the possibilities and is scheduled to meet with leaders of the Ulster Unionist and DUP parties early this year.
Waugh said, “We want to determine whether or not there is an appetite for a change in the Northern Ireland legislation which would eventually allow for a strictly regulated and monitored gaming operation to anchor a broader entertainment center with cinema, restaurants, bars and possibly a hotel, the likes of which are prevalent in most major cities in Europe.”
Rank operates 55 casinos across Britain, but its expansion into Northern Ireland is expected to meet determined resistance, mainly from Protestant religious leaders, who have succeeded in keeping casinos illegal and more recently have blocked plans to license poker clubs in the province.
