Tony shares his remarkable story
AN AUDIENCE at Bunclody Library heard a presentation from addiction counsellor and former gambler Tony O’Reilly (44) who made headlines in 2011 when it was revealed that he had stolen €1.75 million from Gorey Post Office to feed a crippling gambling addiction.
After going on the run and eventually being caught by police in Belfast, Tony was delivered a jail sentence at Wexford Circuit Court and was released from prison in Arklow in 2014. Since then he has gone on a journey to turn his life around and now works closely with the charity Problem Gambling Ireland after co-writing the book ‘Tony 10’ with Declan Lynch, the title inspired by his online gambling profile name.
Speaking to this newspaper, Tony O’Reilly who is from Carlow described being back in Wexford again as surreal.
‘These days I work with schools in Dublin and Waterford telling my story to teenagers, so I’ve only really passed through Gorey and Wexford so it was surreal in one sense being in Bunclody library.
‘During these sessions we discuss my story and use elements of storytelling to educate about the psychology around gambling addiction, how to recognise the signs in yourself, a friend or a family member. Audiences usually find it worthwhile but those in Bunclody got a lot from it as it was very engaging,’ he said.
Tony recently appeared in a TG4 documentary and he said that he decided to go ahead with that and hold more workshop sessions to try and show the extent of the problem in Ireland.
‘During the workshops and the documentary, about 90-95% of the audiences could relate to what I’m saying. I feel that there is not enough awareness out there at the moment but the more we put it out there about how bad the problem is, the government should take notice and look at what they could be doing better in terms of funding for proper supports for problem gambling,’ he said.
Making this effort to use his story to educate, Tony feels that fear holds a lot of people back from telling the truth.
‘My advice would always be to open up and look for that help and don’t be afraid of the consequences. There’s always a fear of coming out but it’s important to do it. It can be with anyone, a professional or close friend that you know will keep things confidential. People don’t realise the relief they will feel saying it out loud’.
During engaging talks with young people in schools, Tony has noticed a worrying trend of gaming and gambling.
‘There’s a huge amount of people that have joined the dots in the link between gaming and gambling. It normalises it for kids, when they see gambling advertised during sports games and on apps they have on their phone’.
To learn more about the connections between gaming and gambling outlined by Problem Gambling Ireland or for further help and support, visit problemgambling.ie or email info@ problemgambling.ie.