Council co-ordinator lays out challenges over next two-and-a-half years.

Limerick Council’s co-ordinator for the 2027 Ryder Cup has said the construction which will take place for the tournament is akin to “building a small village on a golf course”.

Tourists will visit Adare Manor from around the world for the tournament in just over two years.

And Elaine O’Connor, who Limerick council have put in place as a co-ordinator, said it will be “off the Richter scale” in terms of events which the west of Ireland has hosted. She pointed out that 60,000 people will be attending Adare Manor on each day of the USA v Europe golf tournament.

She compared it to filling the Aviva Stadium for a number of successive days.

“Unlike a stadium, like the Aviva, or Thomond Park where you have a ready-made venue, Adare Manor, as beautiful as it is, needs to cater for 60,000 people each day. So you’re looking at a year’s build time on the course to put in all the hospitality structures,” she said in a speech at the Association of Irish Local Government’s annual conference in the Limerick Strand Hotel.

These four-storey structures will be of a high-standard, she added, with air conditioning plus food and beverage facilities.

“It’s a phenomenal undertaking. It’s like building a small village on a golf course,” said Ms O’Connor.

She admitted that accommodation continues to be a huge challenge ahead of the tournament, slated for September 2027.

The Ryder Cup organisers alone will need 32,000 bed nights before, during and after.

“Every possibility is kicking in. We are looking at things like camper vans, and camping. Perhaps things we wouldn’t associate with our own country. But other people do not mind this as long as the facilities are good. It’s probably something we have a hang-up about more than people from abroad,” added Ms O’Connor.

She also said Council is working with transport bosses on a mobility plan.

Picture: Elaine O’Connor, Limerick City and County Council’s Ryder Cup co-ordinator with metropolitan leader, Cllr Kieran O’Hanlon, president of Association of Irish Local Government | PICTURE: Keith Wiseman
From the Limerick Leader.