The register, in numbers (1 September 2026): GRAI has issued 29 licences to 28 companies — 26 Remote Betting and 3 Remote Betting Intermediary. Remote gaming licences: zero. Several licensees trade under casino-style names (QuinnCasino, PartyCasino, Casinoin) while holding betting-only licences, which is why the activity column matters more than the brand. Our republication of GRAI’s own file: grai-register.csv · grai-register.json (CC-BY 4.0, source GRAI).
Last checked: 1 September 2026 (GRAI’s register file is dated 27 August 2026). Remote betting licences commenced 1 July 2026 and GRAI has begun issuing them; online casino (remote gaming) licensing has not opened. We re-check monthly and update this page the day anything changes — this one changed, and we have said what changed rather than quietly moving the date.
The short version
- No casino in Ireland holds a GRAI licence yet. Licensing has opened — but for betting, not for casino play.
- Applications opened on 9 February 2026 for remote betting, remote betting intermediary and in-person betting. The first remote betting licences took effect on 1 July 2026.
- Remote gaming — the online casino licence — has not opened. It is signposted for a later phase and needs its own commencement order.
- Any site telling you a casino is “GRAI-licensed” in 2026 is wrong. Check the Activity column on the register, not the company name.
What GRAI actually is
The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) is the new regulator created under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024. It will eventually license and supervise betting, gaming and lottery products in Ireland, replacing the patchwork of Revenue bookmaker licences and court-issued lottery permits that Ireland has used for decades.
Where licensing actually stands right now
We track GRAI’s own pages rather than other comparison sites. One caveat for September: GRAI’s dedicated phasing guidance has been replaced — its URL now serves the regulator’s licence application guidance, which says phasing information “will be available here in the coming months”. The sequence below is GRAI’s last published timetable (6 August 2026), checked against the live register on 1 September 2026:
- Remote betting licensing is live. GRAI’s remote betting and betting intermediary licences commenced on 1 July 2026, and the authority has begun issuing them. Every online bookmaker serving Irish players — incumbent or new — now needs a GRAI licence rather than the old Revenue one.
- Online casino licensing has not opened. Remote gaming is a later phase in GRAI’s sequence: GRAI has said applications for gaming, lotteries, B2B, charitable and philanthropic licences will be opened throughout 2027 and 2028. No date is fixed, so treat any specific one you see elsewhere with suspicion.
- The old regime continues for everything except remote betting. Gaming licence holders still renew with the Revenue Commissioners and lottery permits still come from the courts, until each of those phases is switched over.
- B2B licensing comes later. GRAI states business-to-business licensing is not expected in the first phases.
- The public register is live. GRAI publishes its licence holders, and every entry on it today is a Remote Betting or Remote Betting Intermediary licence — there are no gaming licences on it. Read the Activity column: several holders trade under casino-sounding names while holding only a betting licence.
Licence status at a glance
| Licence type | Status (6 Aug 2026) | Who to check with today |
|---|---|---|
| Remote betting (online bookmakers) | Live — commenced 1 July 2026, GRAI issuing licences | GRAI |
| Betting intermediaries | Live — commenced 1 July 2026 | GRAI |
| Online casino (remote gaming, B2C) | Not open — GRAI: applications opened throughout 2027 and 2028 | No Irish licence exists yet; check the overseas licence instead |
| In-person betting | Later phase, indicated for end of 2026 | Revenue Commissioners for now |
| Lotteries | Later phase — 2027 onward | Courts Service / Garda permits |
| B2B suppliers | Later phase — 2027/28 | — |
Phasing dates beyond remote betting are GRAI’s stated sequence rather than commenced law, and each one needs its own commencement order before it binds anybody. We date-stamp this table every time we check it, and we would rather say “no date fixed” than invent one.
Register growth ledger
The register’s growth, one dated row per checkpoint, so the trajectory can be cited without re-deriving it. Licence counts are read from GRAI’s own register file; the February and July rows are GRAI’s dated announcements.
| Date | Register | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Feb 2026 | 0 licences | Application window opened for remote betting, remote betting intermediary and in-person betting |
| 1 Jul 2026 | 13 licences | Licensing commenced — 13 licences on the register carry a 1 July issue date |
| 18 Aug 2026 | 25 licences · 24 companies | +12 since commencement, including the first three betting-intermediary licences; remote gaming zero |
| 1 Sep 2026 | 29 licences · 28 companies | +4 in a fortnight — The Track Bookmakers, Midnite and NetBet (24 August) and Tote (26 August), all Remote Betting; remote gaming still zero |
Licences, not companies: one operator (Betdaq’s Exchange Platform Solutions Limited) holds both a betting and an intermediary licence, which is why the two figures differ by one. September row read from GRAI’s register file dated 27 August 2026, retrieved 29 August 2026.
So which casinos are “GRAI-licensed” today?
None. Not one. If you search this phrase you will find pages confidently listing “GRAI-licensed casinos” — that is not something that exists yet, and it tells you a lot about how carefully those sites check things. We will list every licensed operator here the day GRAI issues its first licences, with the licence details quoted from the register.
How to check an operator yourself, today
- Bookmakers: a legitimate Irish-facing bookmaker holds a Revenue bookmaker’s licence under the old regime. Ask their support for the licence detail, or check the operator’s terms page.
- Online casinos: there is currently no Irish licence for them to hold, so every casino serving Irish players operates on an overseas licence — typically Malta (MGA), Curaçao or similar. The licence number in the site footer should match the regulator’s own verification page.
- The regulator itself: GRAI publishes player-safety information at grai.ie/gambling-safety — worth a read before you deposit anywhere.
What this means if you play at online casinos in Ireland
Until GRAI’s casino licensing phase arrives, every online casino open to Irish players is an offshore site. That is a fact, not a recommendation — and it cuts both ways: you get access and bigger bonuses, but you give up local regulatory protection. If you choose to play at one, the licence check above and the operator’s track record are all you have, so they matter. We keep a separate guide to casinos operating outside the GRAI licence — what the label means and how to judge those sites on their own terms.
We keep a short list of casinos whose acceptance of Irish players we have confirmed ourselves. Right now that list is: MyStake (the one casino on this site we have deposit-tested with our own money). We are confirming Irish acceptance for other partner brands in writing and will only add them here once that confirmation exists.
What a GRAI licence actually gives you as a player
The point of the new regime isn’t the paperwork — it’s the concrete consumer protections a licensed operator has to follow, and that an unlicensed offshore site does not. Once an operator holds a GRAI licence, these apply:
- A statutory self-exclusion register. The Act establishes a National Gambling Exclusion Register — one place to exclude yourself across every licensed operator, rather than site by site. Offshore casinos have no obligation to honour an Irish exclusion.
- No credit-card gambling. Licensed operators can’t accept credit cards for gambling — a deliberate brake on betting with borrowed money.
- Advertising limits. A watershed keeps gambling ads off TV, radio and on-demand services between 05:30 and 21:00, and ads can’t be aimed at children or used as personalised inducements to keep you playing.
- Real penalties behind the rules. GRAI can fine a licensed operator up to €20 million or 10% of turnover, so those obligations have teeth — it’s not just guidance.
- Somewhere to complain. A licensed operator answers to GRAI. If an offshore site voids your winnings or stonewalls a withdrawal, there is no Irish regulator to take it to.
That’s the honest case for choosing a GRAI-licensed operator once licences are live: not that offshore casinos are illegal for you to use — they aren’t — but that a licensed site is the only one bound by these protections. Until the register of licensed operators fills out, use the checks above, and see our mobile casinos Ireland and Revolut casinos Ireland guides for how we assess brands in the meantime.
What happens next (and when we update)
- GRAI publishes its phasing timetable → we add it here with dates.
- Applications open → we track which operators apply, where that becomes public.
- First licences issue and a register appears → this page becomes a live mirror of it, checked monthly.
Quick answers
Can Irish players use online casinos right now?
There is no Irish online-casino licence yet, so every casino open to Irish players runs on an overseas licence — outside Irish regulatory protection. Check the operator’s licence before depositing; our verified list above is deliberately short.
What is the GRAI?
The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland — the new regulator created by the Gambling Regulation Act 2024. It will eventually license betting, gaming and lotteries in Ireland.
When will GRAI start licensing casinos?
Betting licensing is already running: applications opened on 9 February 2026 and the first remote betting licences took effect on 1 July 2026. Casino licensing is a separate, later phase — GRAI has signposted remote gaming but it needs its own commencement order, and no fixed date is set in law. We re-check the regulator monthly and update this page the day that changes.
Changelog: 1 Sep 2026 — September register check (GRAI’s file dated 27 August, retrieved 29 August): 29 licences to 28 companies — 26 Remote Betting, 3 Remote Betting Intermediary, remote gaming still zero. Four additions since our August check, all Remote Betting: The Track Bookmakers, Midnite, NetBet (24 August) and Tote (26 August). Added the register growth ledger; noted that GRAI’s phasing guidance URL now serves its licence application guidance. 18 Aug 2026 — published GRAI’s own register file (25 licences, 24 companies, 0 remote gaming) and removed the fourth-quarter-2026 remote-gaming signpost; GRAI has said gaming, lotteries, B2B, charitable and philanthropic applications open throughout 2027 and 2028. 13 Aug 2026 — corrected by licence type. The launch version said GRAI had not opened applications at all and that no public register existed; both were wrong. Applications opened 9 February 2026 for the three betting licence types, licences commenced 1 July 2026, and the register is published. Remote gaming remains unopened. 28 Jul 2026 — page launched.
18+. Play responsibly. Irish player-safety resources: GRAI gambling safety.