They left the UK because of new laws, not because of geography. WTF is this all about
On the other hand, there have been a few casinos that classed Canada as part of the USA, and thought that UIGEA also applied to Canada so pulled out.
On the other hand, at some casinos even Northern Ireland is classed as "not in the UK". The casinos that have live roulette on TV are for UK players, but the small print at the bottom of the screen says "not available in NI".
UK players did get the impression that VPL didn't really know what they were doing because they only told players that they were all being herded into Casino UK AFTER it had actually happened, and then a couple of weeks later it was all move again, this time to Roxy Palace.
Now they are just telling players from Eire to go to Roxy Palace themselves and open an account, no migration at all. Whilst players might not think this matters, affiliates certainly do because they will not see their own tagged players followed after the move, as would be the case with a formal migration.
Maybe this is just a lame bullshit excuse to cover up another reason for a "panic" pull out of the republic, something CS have been told to say to any players who are locked out and complain.
It might be worth asking other non UK licenced casinos if they are also pulling out of the republic in the near future, and maybe ask those WITH a UK licence if they know of any reason why this licence is also needed to provide service to the republic as well as NI.
Maybe a rep from VPL would like to come over to Dublin and offer this excuse in person in a pub there on Saturday night