A Dublin newsagent claims he is being used as a test case in court later this month on the legality of selling British lottery tickets in the Republic.
Mr Pat Shevlin of Alan's newsagent in Templeogue, Co Dublin, has been running a courier system between Dublin and Newry for the past year, enabling local people to play the British lottery while remaining in the Republic.
The newsagent has now been charged with the illegal selling of lottery tickets and is due in court on January 15th. He said he was looking forward to the case as it would finally clarify his position.
"Nobody has been able to tell me for the past 12 months that I am breaking the law. I wish somebody would clarify it but all the gardai will say is that it is a grey area. I am delighted if it does go to court because it will sort the whole thing out once and for all.
"If the judge says `Pat Shevlin you are breaking the law', then I will stop in the morning," he said. Before the British lottery started, people in Northern Ireland used couriers to play the Irish Lottery, he said, and there had been no outcry from the Irish authorities at that stage.
"People from the North can go on Winning Streak with Mike Murphy or win on the National Lottery and there is not a word about that because it is all Irish money, but because it is going the other way, people are getting excited," said Mr Shevlin.
Last July, gardai served a search warrant and removed British lottery cards and receipt slips from his shop. Mr Shevlin said he was given photocopies in return.
In early December a summons was served and Mr Shevlin was charged under Section 21 of the 1956 Gaming and Lotteries Act. Subsection 2 of Section 21 reads:
"No person shall import, print, publish or distribute or sell, offer or expose for sale, invite an offer to buy or have in his possession for sale or distribution any ticket, counterfoil or coupon for use in a lottery or any document carrying any information relating to a lottery".
The Irish National Lottery came into being under the 1986 Act.
In Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, a newsagent has been charged with the illegal selling of British lottery tickets and a file has been forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions. The file is hack with gardai in Enniscorthy pending further clarification.
A number of other newsagents around the State have received Garda warnings.
Mr Pat McKeown, of the Irish Retail Newsagents' Association, said his organisation had written to the Department of Justice last year seeking clarification on the legality of selling British lottery tickets. He said none was forthcoming and newsagents continued selling. He estimated that 100 newsagents were using couriers to bring lottery tickets to the North.
The Department of Justice said the Minister was aware that there was a case pending. A spokeswoman said Ms Owen would consider the effectiveness of Section 21 once the outcome of the case was known.
She said it was not up to the Minister to advise whether the 1956 Act had been breached. She said such decisions were a matter for the Garda and the DPP.