Last I read, the Irish government were taking steps to regulate online gaming. At present, I don’t believe there is any formal regulation of online gaming, with the most recent regulation being in 1956!
As such, Irish-based gaming providers, Paddy Power and Boylesports, to name a couple, are licensed offshore. Players can make transactions to and from these entities with no trouble at all and to all intents and purposes, this is a market you should look to push without fear of losing traffic and players.
To be sure (sorry!), the Irish market is great if you do sports betting and poker. Online casino is something that is certainly growing in popularity and will certainly get a boost with regulation.
If anyone knows any better, please feel free to correct me!