Gambling and everyday life is a marriage made in heaven for some people, while for others, it’s hell on earth.

As we sit down night after night in these cold winter months, every Tom, Dick and Harry at the bar stool or on the sofa at home seems compelled to place a bet in order to have a vested interest in an event.

From a Champions League Group Stage match with very little on the line here in the principality of Kilkenny to the high-stakes political showdowns between Micheal Martin, Mary Lou-McDonald and other political leaders, which could determine how Kilkenny life will play out for years to come, we all want to feel included.

All in good fun you say? Surely an individuals’s flutter on how many seats a political party will win is harmless? But when you sit back and contemplate potential outcomes, the genuine will of the people may be skewed for other gains. Not necessarily on the national stage but in the heart of a community or parish.

In recent weeks, the blood sport that is a General Election campaign has been played out in front of our very eyes. From battles on the TV screen to social media combat. But unlike many other periods in the electoral cycle, election time bringS together the political anorak and the causal observer.

For most voters, a vast array of varying considerations are taken into account as candidates promise the sun, moon and stars to secure your vote.

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But as election hopefuls and canvassers knock on our doors and seek our vote, the topic of conversation amongst serial gamblers is not only ‘who’ll win?’ but ‘what odds are on Candidate X to get elected?’

Not what percentage or likelihood a candidate is likely to receive from the electorate but what odds… A worrying development in Irish culture and political life.

The relationship between sport and gambling is an issue I’ve highlighted and bemoaned before. However, at this point, despite the best will in the world from sporting advocates and organisations like GambleAware, I feel consigned to defeat. Gambling companies and their PR teams have simply become masters in the art of advertising. The quantity of adverts and the tone surrounding them has been an accident waiting to happen for decades.

Whether, I’m unfairly down beat on winning battle will become clear in time. But, I would suggest the wider societal issue that has been caused by gambling’s infiltration in to sport is now of equal concern.

The hotwiring of people’s brains to view events from the prism of gambling odds appears to be slowly but surely creeping into some, and I stress some, people’s everyday lives.

A harmless bet on the first goalscorer in the 3pm kick-off once a week, becomes betting on the first soap character to appear on screen during an episode of Coronation Street. Both relatively harmless but the latter perhaps a sign of a growing need rather than a want to gamble for the individual.

But on the week of a General Election, in this betting orientated world we live in, could the democracy we hold dear, if not in danger of being destroyed by people with betting odds rolling around their heads 24/7, is there a possibility certain constituencies could be negatively impacted by voter/s voting not for who they think will serve the public best, but are voting (perhaps along with their pals) for the candidate, who will serve their financial interests on polling day?

From voting on what party will win the most seats, to will it be a coalition government, there’s no shortage of possible bets.
The percentage of people who vote in such a manner or at least admit to doing so is unknown but as campaigns continue to support compulsive gamblers of sporting events, should similar laws be introduced to protect the political system? Not because of a sudden surge in politically based betting but due to the seriousness of any voter not using their right for the greater good.

Over past generations, sports people and politicians have been sacked and publicly shamed for betting on events that directly relate to the outcome of events in their profession. If a politician or sportsperson is rightly held to account on such matters, surely the voter should be held to a similar standing?

After all, voting irresponsibly or with ulterior motives could negatively impact the lives of the public not only this government’s cycle but for many generations to come?