Any betting site can type the words "licensed and regulated in Ireland" into its footer. Since 1 July 2026 there is finally a way to call the bluff: the GRAI's public register, live at grai.ie. Checking it takes about two minutes and needs no account. Here is the routine we use for every bookmaker we look at — and the red flags that show up when a claim does not survive it.
Step 1: Find the Legal Company Name
The register lists companies, not brands, and the two rarely match. The betting brand on the app icon is a trading name; the licence sits with a legal entity that may sound nothing like it. Scroll to the site's footer or terms and conditions and note the company name and number — that is what you search for. If a site will not tell you which company operates it, stop there: that alone is disqualifying.
Step 2: Search the Register at grai.ie
Go to the register directly — type grai.ie yourself rather than following a link from the betting site. Search the company name. A genuine entry shows the licence number, the licence type, and its dates. No entry under the company name (after checking spelling variants) means no Irish licence, whatever the footer says.
Step 3: Check the Licence Type
This is the step most people skip. The GRAI currently issues remote betting licences — the category code RB in the licence number, as in GRAI-0191-RB-26-0001, which our licence anatomy guide decodes. It has issued no gaming (casino) licences at all; those open through 2027 and 2028. So "GRAI-licensed" can be entirely true of a sportsbook and entirely false of the casino tab beside it.
Step 4: Check the Dates
Licences run for three years, and the register shows validity dates. An expired entry is not a licence. While you are there, confirm the status is active — the GRAI can suspend or revoke a licence between renewals, and the register is where that shows first. Our daily tracker logs register changes, but treat grai.ie itself as the only authoritative source.
Red Flags of a Fake "Licensed" Claim
The patterns we see repeatedly: a licence number printed nowhere on the site; a number in a format that matches no real register; an old Irish Revenue excise certificate dressed up as a current licence (the 2024 Act replaced that system); an offshore licence logo placed next to an Irish flag and hoping you blend them; and the phrase "licensed in Europe", which means nothing. A real operator states its company name, its GRAI number, and both survive the register search.
If the Check Fails
An unlicensed operator owes you nothing enforceable in Ireland — no complaint route to the GRAI, no customer-fund rules, no exclusion register coverage. Plenty of licensed alternatives exist; our betting sites guide starts with the register rather than with bonus sizes. For casino sites, the sister guide is the casino licence check.
18+ only. If betting stops being fun, free and confidential help is available from the Gambling Awareness Trust on 1800 753 753 or at gamblingcare.ie.
Frequently Asked Questions
On the official public register at grai.ie — search the legal company name from the site's footer, not the brand name, then check the licence type and dates.
The register lists legal entities, not brands. Find the operating company in the terms and conditions and search that — if no entry exists, the brand has no Irish licence.
No. Current GRAI licences cover remote betting only — zero casino licences have been issued, with gaming licensing expected through 2027–2028.