mber of the Irish Parliament, the Dail, has said that the practice of having only one member of staff working in a betting shop is too dangerous.

There have been 569 robberies at betting shops in Ireland, a country with a population of only six million people, in the last three years.

Jonathon O'Brien of Sinn Fein told The Journal: "The frequency of robberies in betting offices, with well over 100 annually, shows that there is a very clear onus on employers to ensure that staff have high levels of safety and protection, and the practice of single-manning shops should not be used in Ireland. It is simply too dangerous for staff."

He continued: "I have heard from people employed in betting offices who are working in what are considered no-go areas for police and yet they are left alone handling large sums of cash all day or for the vast majority of the day."