Picture a nation where nearly 15,000 citizens are without a home, including more than 4,000 children. Imagine the anticipation of an imminent general election, with its housing Minister taking to mass media with a significant message to strengthen his local support base. Surprisingly, this message revolves around a pair of golf tournaments. At first glance, this might seem somewhat peculiar.
With Ireland grappling with an increasing homeless problem, particularly affecting children, it’s intriguing why the Housing Minister is attempting to garner popularity utilising golf as a lure.
Séamus Power is vying for a spot in the Zozo Championship, while efforts to bring the open championships to Portmarnock’s Golf Club are moving forward steadily. Furthermore, prominent golfers, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, get their new golf league launching in January. Welcome to what could be Ireland in 2024.
Indeed, it was the talk of the town this week as Darragh O’Brien TD, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, proudly shared the news that the cabinet had approved nearly €40 million for hosting the two British Opens in Ireland; the women’s possibly in 2028, followed by the men’s potentially by 2030.
Following a brief 50-second social media post, he was seen speaking into a wireless microphone, standing at the entrance to Portmarnock GC, with the coastal breeze drifting around his face as the camera captured the marina landscape behind him.
These developments may perhaps spark a few questions. Considering that he’s been having meetings at the R&A and Portmarnock Golf Club for the past few months, as he claims, why wasn’t he allowed on the green to make his grand announcement? After all, he is not a woman.
Irrespective of minor concerns, what about the broader implications? How does it reflect on us, the voters, that our representative O’Brien still enjoys political safety despite his actions? Amidst a housing shortage, in the weeks prior to an election, our Housing Minister is avidly discussing bringing grandeur golf events to one of Ireland’s most exclusive sports clubs. This doesn’t appear to negatively impact his electoral standing.
Undeniably, he’s done his calculations. His zeal in executing this plan, including what it represents for the development of both Portmarnock area and its golf club is evident. Continually, he stressed on the event’s worldwide acclaim and its prestige. Within less than a minute, he referenced Portmarnock four times and Fingal twice.
This was definitely premeditated. Due to boundary shifts since 2020, O’Brien’s ward has altered. Back then, five seats were accessible in Dublin Fingal, but today only three are available in Dublin Fingal East. Even so, he holds the most notoriety, being the local TD with a national reputation. But this might not be beneficial in all situations.
Naturally, he seizes the opportunity to pat himself on the back for fetching a hefty sum of money into the area. After all, would he be fulfilling his duty as a local politician if he didn’t? With the need to amass votes in Portmarnock, Swords, Malahide, and Donabate, it is crucial to keep the local supporters happy.
Regardless, his audacity seems somewhat astonishing, wouldn’t you agree? The current Government’s tenure is almost at an end. When they assumed power, Ireland had 8,699 homeless people; now, that number has swelled to 14,760. Despite this, the Housing Minister is attempting to win over voters by spending their own money to stage golf tournaments at his local club.
The infamous Portmarnock Golf Club, renowned for its staunch refusal to admit female members for over a century, condescended to include them only in 2021. Even then, it arguably took external pressure to enact this change. Following this, the government, led by O’Brien, hastened to extend financial support within a timeframe of three years.
This all came as part of a recently declared government initiative appearing to focus on the staging of ‘Major International Sports Events’. The phrase notably capitalised, perhaps a distinctive mark of their approach. The crux of this resolve seems to be the capitalisation of the local population’s sporting interests, with aims to transpose popular televised sports to a domestic setting, such as prestigious golf tournaments, football championships and the Volvo Ocean Race, to name a few.
The concept appears attractive to sports enthusiasts, except for the fact that the inception of this policy was recent, whereas plans for the aforementioned events were already in motion. As stated by O’Brien himself, discussions about hosting the Open in Portmarnock were not a new development. This implies the government’s activity might be a mere aesthetic refurbishment of previously unfolding events, posing it as a fresh strategy.
Perhaps this can be dismissed as routine political manoeuvring, which, especially on the brink of an election, is not an astonishing revelation. However, this move has elicited frustration, even among those familiar with and invested in the men’s Open since the 1980s. It forces one to question, in a country where countless individuals grapple with the issue of homelessness, whether this sport-focused strategy isn’t just a superficial distraction, complete with the ‘shiny’ prospect of hosting the British Open.
Clearly, Darragh O’Brien would seem to believe it to be so. Or, at the very least, he thinks it’s still in contention. With four thousand children without homes, his focus on the vast prestige anticipated from accommodating a golf event is baffling. They may as well purchase €15 burgers from the tented community.
In a rational nation, such a disconnect would be addressed in the polling station. As for Ireland? Would it be the same? We’ll have to wait and see.