THERE are less than 20 independent family-owned betting shops left in Ireland, according to the Irish Bookmakers Association. That number decreased by one this week when Askeaton, Co Limerick, bookmaker Brian Collins closed his doors for the final time after 31 years in the business.

Well known in local racing circles, Collins had just one shop. He also stood at point-to-points and had shares in horses trained by Eric McNamara.

He told The Irish Field: “To be honest, I was paying €6,000 per month for live pictures and it just wasn’t viable.”

“There were good times during the Celtic Tiger era but, as in many other walks of life, it is hard to run a bricks-and-mortar operation if the business can be replicated online at a cheaper price. Older customers were not being replaced by younger customers.

“When I started there was no Sunday or evening racing. But over the years the business became very full-on and conspired against the smaller man. In recent years there has been increased regulation introduced, which brought an additional administrative burden with no dditional revenue or benefit.”

Eric McNamara was among those present to mark the shop’s final day in operation, along with fellow trainer Mick Flannery and retired trainer John Long.

“I’ve had shares in horses with Eric for over 30 years. His winners were often well-backed with me. When John Long’s horse Garvivonnian won the Becher Chase in 2005 that was a losing day too, and we were often on the wrong end of some of the Charles Byrnes winners.”

Sharon Byrne, chairperson of the Irish Bookmakers Association, said: “There are 715 betting shops in Ireland at the moment and roughly 650 of them are owned by the big three [Paddy Power, Ladbrokes, BoyleSports]. Bar One Racing own most of the other 65 shops, and I think there are fewer than 20 family-owned shops left. Their days were numbered once the betting tax doubled to 2% in 2018.”