IT was refreshing this week to turn on RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland programme and find long overdue questioning of the framework in which the National Lottery is allowed to operate in Ireland. Especially so at a time when gambling has come under such fire in society.

The discussion arose after an announcement just last month that Ireland’s Lotto draws will be broadcast in a new timeslot. It now runs just before the RTÉ Nine O’Clock News on Wednesdays and Saturdays – attaching itself as the lead-in to a flagship programme in the country’s television landscape.