I got addicted to gambling during school lunch breaks

“A £1 spin led to a £7 win” and that is all it took for Declan Cregan to get hooked on gambling at the age of 16.

That first win on a roulette wheel then led to online gambling and trips to the bookies – it was a habit that spiralled out of control and would eventually cost him about £500,000.

“People never think it’s going to be them,” said Declan who is now in recovery after a 10-year battle with gambling addiction.

“It’ll never be that young 15-year-old who has their first bet,” he said.

“They just don’t see how it can escalate to a serious gambling problem.”

Declan, 32, now works with the charity Gambling with Lives

He said often he would be in his school uniform at lunchtime and no questions were asked and he stayed up all night gambling in his bedroom, not eating or drinking.

He stole to feed his habit, something he said will “stay with him until the day he dies”.

At his darkest point where he “hit rock bottom” and lost every penny he had, he admitted, he “thought about suicide”.

But he turned a corner with the support of his two close friends.

It is illegal for under-18s to bet.

The most recent survey into the attitudes of under-16s to gambling found 30% of the 7,500 children surveyed had gambled in some form.

It was carried out on behalf of the Department for Communities and the Department of Health.

Peter and Sadie Keogh, whose son Lewis took his own life in 2013 after developing a gambling addiction, are calling for an overhaul of Northern Ireland’s gambling laws, which date back to 1985 – long before the rise of online betting.

“It’s only a few weeks ago when we were in Stormont,” said Sadie.

“It needs to be dealt with.

“We didn’t know that Lewis was gambling so heavily but he didn’t probably know it was dangerous until it was too late.”

They were speaking at a special football match at the Harland and Wolff Welders ground in east Belfast, organised by Gambling with Lives.

One of those playing in the match was Sinn Féin MLA Philip McGuigan.

He has previously spoken about battling a gambling addiction that cost him more than £100,000.

“Addiction is something that whether it’s gambling, drugs or alcohol, it’s an illness that can affect anybody,” he said.

“Unfortunately, here in the north, we have far too many individuals, families and communities suffering from the plight of gambling harm.

“The legislation we have in the north is light years out of date.

“We have nothing that deals with online gambling.”

Ulster Unionist MLA Robbie Butler is on Stormont’s All-Party Group on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling.

“There are a number of issues that really need to be looked at. For me, one of them is advertising,” he said.

“I love football and I don’t mind people having a gamble but when it’s pervasive and invasive in people’s lives and when it normalises that then issues do arise.”

In May 2021, the then-minister for communities announced plans for a review of existing gambling law.

The first phase was completed in 2022 and involved amending the legislation to give the department more powers to encourage socially-responsible practices.

There was also a plan for a wider reform with an aim of regulating online gambling and gaming.

However, the Stormont Assembly collapsed in February 2022, meaning that further reform did not happen at that time.

A Stormont report published in June 2024 recommended that gambling should be officially recognised as a public health issue in Northern Ireland and called for an “approach similar to that used for tobacco and alcohol”.

At that time, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said it would not be possible to proceed with legislation during the current assembly mandate, but that “there are steps that can be taken”.

Declan Cregan now shares his experience with groups of young people, warning them about the dangers of gambling.

A group of 14 to 15-year-olds from the Welders U16 football team heard his story this week.

Afterwards, David, 15, said young people shouldn’t gamble.

“We should focus on studies and the future and getting a good life,” he said.

Ahmed, also 15, said he would not gamble because it is forbidden by his Muslim faith.

He said the amount Declan lost was “mind-blowing”.

Mason, 14, said he “wouldn’t have a clue how to go about gambling”.

Zach, 15, said he felt a “bit bad” for Declan.

“It must be hard to tell everyone about mistakes he made when he was younger,” said the teenager.

He outlined he “wouldn’t go anywhere near gambling” and hasn’t bet on football – yet.

He said he’ll think twice now after hearing Declan’s story.

Fifteen-year-old Michael wondered where young people were able to get the money to bet.

He said betting wasn’t for him because he knows about the issues.

If you have been affected by the issues in this story help is available through the BBC Actionline.