Sir, – Your coverage of the Ryder Cup highlights the millions in taxpayer funding being channelled into this international sporting event – €58 million already committed, a further €30 million being sought, and a €150 million bypass being rushed through – all to stage a tournament at a privately owned luxury resort (“Ryder Cup 2027: The true cost of bringing the prestigious event to Adare”, News, September 8th).
What your coverage does not mention is the climate cost. The tournament will generate an extra 100,000 tonnes or more of carbon emissions, between international flights, fleets of SUVs, private jets and helicopters that go hand in hand with such spectacles. That is the equivalent of the annual emissions of more than 20,000 Irish citizens, all crammed into a single week.
The contrast is all the sharper when one is reminded that the billionaire host of this event flies in his own €55 million Gulfstream private jet and private helicopter, while ordinary taxpayers are expected to underwrite the costs of bringing thousands more flights into the country and convoys of SUVs into Limerick.
There is also the broader question of whether taxpayers should be funding golf at all. If public money is to support sport, surely it should go to domestic games that enjoy mass participation and community support – and which do not involve the colossal carbon footprint of a weeklong luxury tournament or mass international travel.
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Meanwhile, funding for deep retrofitting, rural bus services and renewable energy expansion continues to lag behind what is urgently needed. Yet hundreds of millions can be found for a golfing jamboree that adds to the climate crisis. – Yours, etc,
PAUL O’SHEA,
Planet before Profit CLG,
Shankill,
Dublin 18.
