Nissan chief is anxious to motor on at Portmarnock

THE NISSAN Irish Open will be played in the greater Dublin area for the next two years – but where isn’t exactly clear just yet and won’t be for some time.

In a far-ranging interview, Nissan Ireland chief executive Gerard O’Toole last night said: “This year’s event exceeded all my expectations, it was my first time getting into this type of tournament and I was unsure as to what we might expect. But I would have to say that preparing for it was a pleasure, being here has been fantastic and I’m genuinely pleased at how it has panned out at every level.”

Nissan and Portmarnock clearly made happy bedfellows in 2003. The car company saved the tournament in the first place by agreeing to act as title sponsors and made it clear that they wanted it staged at Portmarnock. The golf club for their part were happy to oblige as they had been out of the limelight for 13 years.

There remains considerable doubt, however, as to whether Portmarnock would like to be involved again next year. They begin a major clubhouse reconstruction next month costing around €5 million and it is due for completion around next May. However, there is always an element of uncertainty in this area while the members are also believed to feel enough is enough, at least for the time being. O’Toole would regret it if the move from Portmarnock had to be made.

“The players are saying it’s a magnificent course, it has played beautifully and I’ve had this incredible reception from the members,” he said. “They are sometimes not so well spoken about but I can tell you the welcome they have given us and the players has been outstanding. Not one cross word. Nobody’s been out of sync about anything, just really superb and I mean that.

“On a personal level, in anything I have done, I haven’t had a negative, whether it was meeting the Minister or club officials or players or the media.

“There were a few comments in the papers which I didn’t anticipate but maybe they are valid points about the date. Ideally, we would like to run on the week before the British Open but obviously Loch Lomond are there and they’re not going to change. There have been suggestions about the end of August. All these guys have come from a very prolonged series of tournaments culminating in the British Open last week and they’re tired. There is a question mark after the date.”

And so the venue, which O’Toole accepts “is the key issue. I feel we have to be in Dublin from the point of view of logistics, access, the whole thing. I know it has been around the country and has worked reasonably well but if I have a preference, I want to be in Dublin, not because I don’t want to be anywhere else, it’s just that it makes more sense.

“I would love to come back to Portmarnock for the next two years and we will be telling them so. But they have this building programme and after the controversy of recent months, they may want time to reflect and, of course, also see what happens in the courts. That’s going to be a crucial issue.

“If it were to be a case that this time next year, this controversy was still dragging on, we’d probably have to think twice about coming back, not because of the Portmarnock policy issue but because you don’t want the flak and the hassle.

“We are truly sponsoring a golf tournament, not a golf club. We’re guests here. We’re lucky to be here. We were invited here. I regret Portmarnock have this problem but I don’t want to get into the details of their membership or constitution. That’s up to them and the courts will decide whether they have a problem and on what scale.”

The Nissan chief doesn’t deny he and his company could have done without some of the media reports and especially some phone-in radio programmes that were critical of their support for a tournament being played at a men-only club and even recommended women shouldn’t buy their cars. But he’s also philosophical.

“Sure, it has got a lot of air time and media time but it has also been confined in a sense. There were a small number of people who were very proactive on the issue and I think they made disproportionate noise relative to the issue.

“I don’t think getting a half dozen well heeled ladies into Portmarnock Golf Club is a pressing woman’s issue. There are a lot more pressing issues relating to women in this country than five or six of them becoming members here. They can say it’s a matter of principle but I just find spending so much time and energy focusing on an issue like that as a matter of principle rather strange.

“I’ve been thinking about the future long and hard. We’re in for two more years. It’s not a heat of the moment decision. The media exposure from a sporting perspective has been very strong, we’ve had tons of television on Sky, RTE and whatever else. I’m really happy that the money we’ve spent has been well spent.

“I had to think long and hard about getting involved in the first place because of a number of reasons. The economics of it, can you afford it, will you get a return on it, does it make sense. The market is in downturn, is this the right time to do it. On top of that, the Irish Open had a lifespan that people were beginning to question its continued existence. I had to grapple with all those points and then come to an agreement with the Tour about how much we would put in. Once we decided, we went with it and gave it our best shot and we have no regrets.”