Tourism Minister Catherine Martin has welcomed the Government’s decision to explore a bid to host The Open golf championship and the AIG Women’s Open, both at the historic Portmarnock Golf Club in north Co Dublin.
This year’s Open was won, last weekend, by US golfer Xander Schauffle at Royal Troon in Scotland.
The Open has been hosted in Ireland before – in Royal Portrush, in Co Antrim in 1951 and 2019 – but never in the Republic. Portmarnock is a historic former home of The Irish Open.
Any final decision to support the bid to host The Open is subject to a positive outcome to discussions that will take place with The R&A and Portmarnock Golf Club over the summer period and to a positive economic impact assessment. The Ministers anticipate that a recommendation will be brought to Government in the autumn.
The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media will proceed to active engagement with The R&A and Portmarnock Golf Club in this regard. Engagement with Fingal County Council and key stakeholders, particularly those in the transport and infrastructural logistics sector, will also be undertaken.
The Open is the oldest and most prestigious golf championship in the world and its hosting in Portrush in 2019 was a tremendous success across the island.
The potential significance of hosting The Open outside the UK for the first time cannot be understated and it would present a key opportunity to deepen ties and broaden a shared sporting narrative on both a North-South and East-West basis, the Government said.
