McManus chips in with €2m for Harrington scholarships

JP McMANUS is to honour the golfing success of Padraig Harrington by ploughing €2m into golf scholarships at NUI Maynooth, named in memory of Padraig’s late father, Paddy Harrington.

McManus is a close friend of the British Open champion, who commented last night: “I know my father would be delighted with the excellent progress made to date with these scholarships which will greatly benefit Irish golf in the years ahead.”

Golf is one of the key sports in the NUI Maynooth portfolio of sports scholarships.

Established in 2006, with the support of Oceanico Group, the Paddy Harrington Golf Scholarships are a collaboration between NUI Maynooth and the Golfing Union of Ireland’s (GUI) National Golf Academy, based at Carton House.

Students on this scholarship have the use of the two championship golf courses, The Montgomerie and The O’Meara in Carton House Estate, and also benefit from warm winter training on the famous Oceanico Group golf courses in Portugal’s Algarve.

College chiefs said last night that Mr McManus’s donation would enable students, who previously would have gone abroad, to stay in Ireland and develop into internationally-competitive golfers.

Added NUI Maynooth president Professor John Hughes: “When I announced the exciting new Paddy Harrington Golf Scholarship Scheme for talented undergraduates two years ago, my hope was that the golf talent would blossom and grow. It gives me great pleasure to see this coming to fruition. I am most grateful to JP McManus for his very generous donation.”