Offshore casino
An offshore casino is an online casino that takes players in Ireland while holding its gambling licence from a regulator outside the State, such as the Malta Gaming Authority or the Curaçao Gaming Authority, rather than from the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland. The word describes where the licence comes from, not where the servers sit or how the site behaves. Until the GRAI opens remote gaming licences, every online casino reachable from Ireland falls into this category, including the casino tab of a bookmaker whose betting side holds a GRAI licence.
What the offshore label actually tells you
The label is about jurisdiction, and jurisdiction decides who answers your complaint. A casino holding a licence from the Malta Gaming Authority answers to Malta, and its duties on KYC, withdrawals and self-exclusion are the ones Maltese rules set, which are not the obligations the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 places on GRAI licensees.
Offshore is not the same thing as unlicensed.
It is often confused with that, and the two deserve separating carefully: an unlicensed site holds no licence anywhere, while an offshore one holds a real licence that simply does not come from Ireland. What the GRAI has said is that its licences are being rolled out in phases, with remote betting licences commencing on 1 July 2026 and gaming, lottery and B2B licences opening through 2027 and 2028, each class needing its own commencement order.
Licence sources an Irish player will meet
The table sets the GRAI against the foreign regulators most often named in a casino’s footer, using what each regulator and the GRAI publish rather than anything the casinos claim about themselves.
| Licence | Issued by | On GRAI register | Covers casino games | Irish complaint route |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GRAI remote betting | GRAI, Ireland | Yes | No, betting only | Yes, via GRAI |
| GRAI remote gaming | GRAI, Ireland | Once issued | Yes | Yes, once issued |
| MGA licence | Malta Gaming Authority | No | Yes | No, Maltese route |
| UKGC licence | UK Gambling Commission | No | Yes | No, UK route |
| Curaçao licence | Curaçao Gaming Authority | No | Yes | No, Curaçao route |
| Kahnawake licence | Kahnawake Gaming Commission | No | Yes | No, Kahnawake route |
How to check a casino's licence yourself
Open the licence number in the casino’s footer and search for it on the issuing regulator’s own register, because a logo on the page proves nothing until the register confirms the same company name and number.
Then search the GRAI public register, and read the licence category rather than the brand: a bookmaker listed for remote betting is not, on that entry, licensed by the GRAI for its casino games, and the protections of the 2024 Act follow the licence, not the logo.
