A Co Fermanagh dad who lost his son to suicide over gambling has welcomed a GAA and charity initiative to educate young people about the dangers of betting.

Pete Keogh from Enniskillen lost his son Lewis in to suicide in 2013 over gambling addiction and is a trustee of the charity Gambling With Lives.

It has partnered with Ulster GAA to teach young people about gambling and how it can evolve into addiction.

Read more: Father who lost son, 34, to gambling addiction says law reform is ‘merely a starting point’

“Lewis took his life at the age of 34 as a direct result of his gambling addiction,” Pete told Belfast Live.

“The difference between gambling addiction and any other addiction on this earth is you cannot see the effect of it, the person looks and seems 100% normal.

“But when we followed everything up about Lewis, all his foibles and how he went about his gambling, how he sat up at night into the early hours, with the casino in his pocket as we refer to it, the mobile phone, we saw more.

“I look back on it and the question I keep asking, not to exonerate ourselves by any means because you’re parents of someone who has taken their life, you feel you should have seen some signs, but we can hand on heart say Lewis never gave us any signs that he was on the verge of doing what he did.”

Pete said he was enthused by the prospect of being able to talk directly with young people and make them aware of the pitfalls of gambling and how he has turned his grief into positive action.

He works tirelessly with wife Sadie to try and improve legislation and awareness around gambling across the UK.

“It has led us into the rest of our days probably working with Gambling With Lives and we’re very active campaigning in Stormont and Westminster,” he added.

“The bookie shop is a very small part of gambling in this country of ours, or the bookie at the racecourse, it’s the casino in your pocket, the mobile phone, that’s the biggest problem.

“I don’t know what percentage of revenue it generates for the gambling companies, but certainly most young people would use that.”

He is working with Barry Fennell, the Gambling With Lives Programme Manger for NI and said they are doing everything they can to raise public understanding about gambling.

He added that if they had 20 of Barry, it might start to make a dent in the work that needs done and that treatment options also need to be improved for those seeking help.

“All the schools and sport clubs need to be done and that’s why we’ve hooked up with the GAA,” Pete added.

“I’m delighted that we’ve met up with them and we’re filtering out into the clubs and the counties.

“Barry would say to me that when he goes into schools and clubs that very rarely does he go into somewhere and come out without someone worrying him.

“We need a system whereby we can go into schools and clubs at whatever age and if you find someone who has a problem, you refer them to a counsellor specialising in gambling, but it’s tiny steps at the minute.”

Barry told Belfast Live that Ulster GAA staff members had engaged in a session with the charity in December of last year and it was from there that the partnership blossomed.

They have already begun the process of going into GAA clubs to chat to the young people there, having recently carried out a session at Buncrana GAA.

“We’re very informed by lived experience though and we had Declan Cregan with us that tells his story and young people can really relate to it,” said Barry.

“His story is very open and honest and particularly young people can relate to it and empathise with it and they probably get more of an insight from that.

“Pete as well will tell his story to groups and he is a parent who lost his son.

“Now I know that’s hard-hitting stuff but at the same time we feel that it’s necessary to give that information out and I think this is where our programme is unique.”

Barry said they also try and cover exactly how the gambling industry tries to get people to stay with them .

“The thing about it is gambling harms and addictions are quite often overlooked – there’s not much knowledge among young people about what it can do to you in the long term,” he said.

“We were there for just over an hour and this was a group of young lads who should have been out on the pitch training but they stayed in for the session and it was very informal.

“It’s just about providing those key messages so they can get an understanding of an issue that isn’t going to go away anytime soon and that can impact anybody.

“It can begin quite easily and it’s the damage it does over a period of time is what we try to get across.

“This is the beginning of this programme and initiative and we feel, to be honest, that this will probably save lives.”

Ulster GAA have also welcomed the initiative with CEO Brian McAvoy saying he was “delighted to see the very important messages about gambling harm being delivered to our members”.

“Our staff had the opportunity to participate in a Gambling with Lives workshop in December past, and I would hope that many clubs can avail of the opportunity to benefit from this very worthwhile programme,” he said.

Further information for those bereaved by a gambling-related suicide, or for those wishing tio get help with gambling addiction, can be found here.

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