Fanzone in Limerick lined up for Ryder Cup 2027
Adare Manor to host huge golf tournament in just three years
THE PUBLIC plaza at the heart of the city’s Opera Square development is being earmarked as a fanzone for the Ryder Cup set for Adare in 2027.
Construction is well under way on the massive development on land at the junction of Patrick Street, Rutland Street and Bank Place in the city centre.
This area is being transformed into offices, homes, an apart-hotel, a new city library, cafes and restaurant.
There will be a towering 14-storey office complex as its landmark, which will house Revenue staff.
The public square will contain seated areas, standing areas, a fountain and many other features, with food and drink outlets fronting onto it.
Bosses at Limerick Twenty Thirty - the public company responsible for developing Opera Square - hope to have the project completed by 2026.
It’s with this in mind that a gathering space for golfing fans and some of the tens of thousands of tourists who will be in Limerick for the 2027 Ryder Cup has been identified at Opera Square.
David Conway, chief executive of Limerick Twenty Thirty said the public square will be ready for big events.
“We have done an amazing amount of work on event overlays to make sure the infrastructure is available to take what we want to put in. That's why we've done seating, that's why we've done standing, that's why we've done big screens, that's why there is the extra power, the extra cables, the extra toilets, that kind of stuff. If it's thought about now, it's a ‘plug and play’ for later. That's what we've always done with our buildings, so they are future-proofed,” he said.
The Ryder Cup in Adare Manor is just three years away, and Mr Conway says it helps to have this target.
“It does put the pressure on. If you look at what i've done in the past, I've built two 50m pools, and we've always had events coming down the track. There's no better thing then to have an event to focus the mind,” the chief executive added.
Formerly known as the Opera Centre site, the land behind Patrick Street has lain largely idle for more than 20 years, after initial proposals for a shopping centre failed to see the light of day as the global economic meltdown took hold around 2009.