Two Prediction Markets Geoblocked Ireland After GRAI Interventions

Two major prediction-market operators stopped serving Ireland earlier this year after interventions by the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, a GRAI spokesperson told Vultax in a written answer on 6 October 2026.

"Following interventions by the GRAI, earlier this year two major prediction market operators geoblocked their services to Ireland," the spokesperson said. "This means they have voluntarily restricted access to their platforms for users in Ireland."

The authority did not name the two operators. It said it cannot comment on individual operators or on ongoing investigations.

Ireland has no rules written for prediction markets. It reaches them through the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, which requires a licence for a remote betting intermediary: a business that provides a facility for one person to bet with another by remote means.

The GRAI's licensing page says the authority is of the view that prediction markets that provide betting activities fall within that definition, and that operators wishing to serve people in Ireland must obtain the licence before making their services available. Providing a betting activity without a GRAI licence is a serious offence, the page says.

The spokesperson told Vultax that the licence has been required since 1 July 2026 for remote betting and remote betting intermediary services to consumers in Ireland, and that operators without one should prevent access from Ireland.

Legal action against unlicensed operators can include prosecutions and applications to the High Court for blocking orders directed at internet service providers, app stores and financial institutions, the GRAI said.

Vultax has found no such order against a prediction market in Ireland. The record so far is the one the spokesperson described: interventions, followed by the operators' own geoblocking.

Polymarket's restrictions page, read on 21 October 2026, lists Ireland as close-only on its website: users there can close positions but cannot open new ones. The restriction does not apply to its API.

Ireland sits on that website-only list with the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea and Malta, where it covers sports markets only. Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Slovakia and the United Kingdom are restricted on both the website and the API. Every country's order and Polymarket's response are in the Europe tracker.

The GRAI statements come from a spokesperson's written answer to Vultax of 6 October 2026, first quoted in the Europe tracker. The licensing page and Polymarket's restrictions page were read on 21 October 2026. Vultax did not test access from Irish networks.