Ross in Ryder Cup mission to crown Ireland the 2026 venue
SPORTS Minister Shane Ross is meeting Ryder Cup chiefs in Paris today about bringing the tournament back to Ireland, the Sunday Independent can reveal.
There is no set date for when the competition could return, but the Government is keen to mark the 20th anniversary of the last Irish Ryder Cup by securing the event for 2026.
It is understood that the Government is open to hosting the event at Irish billionaire JP McManus’s recently reopened Adare Manor golf course in Limerick.
Adare Manor has already been backed as a suitable Ryder Cup venue by Irish stars Rory McIlroy (inset) and Paul McGinley.
Earlier this year, McIlroy said: “It would be a dream come true for me… I am very confident that it would be very successful here.”
Among his audience when he made those comments was Keith Pelley, CEO of the European Tour, who — with the Ryder Cup Committee — will decide the venue for the 2026 tournament.
Mr McManus, who last week donated €3.2m to the country’s GAA clubs, has also voiced an ambition to hold the event at Adare.
A government source said: “The minister is travelling to Paris to meet the head of the European Tour and senior people in the Ryder Cup to discuss a possible return of the Ryder Cup in the future and to discuss what government support may be needed and what can be provided.” Mr Ross is being joined by his department’s secretarygeneral, Graham Doyle. Hosting the 2026 Ryder Cup in Ireland would come exactly 20 years after the tournament was held at the K Club in Co Kildare, when Europe annihilated the United States by 18 points to nine. The event proved to be worth €143m to the Irish economy, according to Failte Ireland and the tournament’s organisers.
A report found that the impact on the economy exceeded pre-tournament predictions by €13m and represented a 32pc increase on the impact of the 2002 Ryder Cup in England and an 80pc increase on that of the 1997 competition in Spain.
The average spend per spectator at the event in 2006 was €350 per day. American spectators spent the most at €526 per day.
In the corporate sector, the average guest spent €500 each day, with those from the United States again being the big spenders, at an average of €600 per day.
In April, JP McManus said: “Every golf course owner would love to get the Ryder Cup. I’m sure it would cost plenty but I’d like to bring it to Ireland.”