Sports Minister Gordon Lyons is relishing the prospect of The Open returning to Royal Portrush in 2025, stating how it will showcase Northern Ireland in a positive light.
The tournament was a huge success when it was last played here in 2019 and Lyons is confident it will be the same again six years on.
You get the feeling he would welcome seeing home favourite Rory McIlroy (inset) lift the Claret Jug.
“I’m very much looking forward to the Open. The excitement is building. It is an incredible opportunity to showcase Northern Ireland,” said Lyons.
“We saw the impact of it in the past. The fact it is coming back so soon is incredible. To have Rory here and for him to have that home crowd support will be fantastic.
“Don’t underestimate the impact golf has on our economy, particularly tourism and real high value tourism. That’s something we want to exploit.”
As for other hopes in 2025 as he enters his second year in office, a key one for Lyons relates to seeing the NI Football Fund help clubs improve stadiums and facilities.
Equally as important is building on the success of Northern Ireland athletes in the Olympics last year when there were gold medals for rower Hannah Scott, gymnast Rhys McClenaghan and swimmers Jack McMillan and Daniel Wiffen, who also claimed a bronze, plus a silver for rower Rebecca Shorten and bronze for Philip Doyle in the same sport.
Lyons said: “I’m allocating additional money in terms of the Olympic Legacy Fund because I genuinely want to make sure we build on that enthusiasm. I think it is really important and I’ll be allocating additional money in the next financial year to help in terms of pathways for sports stars to get to that elite level.
“Our medallists had a huge impact in 2024 and I don’t want that to be a one-off. I want to see that at every Olympics and make sure that we are preparing for three years time (in Los Angeles).
“Also I want to ensure our budget goes where it needs to go to make maximum impact.”