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https://www.independent.ie/business/irish-business/government-goes-to-high-court-to-block-ryder-cup-impact-report-being-released/a/159282369.html?utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=share

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Paywall, can you share the gist?

https://archive.is/nU73Y

The Department of Sport is going to the High Court in a bid to stop the release to the Irish Independent of a report into the economic impact of hosting next year's Ryder Cup.

The Information Commissioner has ruled that the assessment, which was completed in July 2024, should be released. It made the decision following an application under the Freedom of Information Act.



With just 24 hours to go before the report was published, however, the Information Commissioner was informed by the department of an appeal to the High Court. It will now be up to a judge to decide if the report can be read in full by the public.



The decision to challenge publication suggests some political sensitivity around the cost of hosting next year's golf competition at Adare Manor in Limerick. The Government is preparing to pay up to €9m towards the cost, and is also completing infrastructural projects in the area, such as the bypass of Adare village.



The economic impact study was commissioned from Ernst & Young (EY) to support the decision-making process of the department and Fáilte Ireland in relation to hosting the Ryder Cup.

Failte Ireland initially refused to release it, on the basis that the study relied on confidential information provided by stakeholders, and because there was input from foreign governments. However, when asked by the Information Commissioner for further details of these parties, only Ryder Cup Europe was cited.



Fáilte Ireland said the Surrey-based organisation had provided confidential details on the percentage of spend that went to Italian suppliers for the Ryder Cup in 2023, which was staged in Rome. The tourism agency said the study included assumptions about the cost of hosting the Ryder Cup in 2027, with some of these costs being public and paid for by the Government, and others being paid by Adare Manor.



The agency argued that the competitive position of Adare Manor to procure services, such as upgrades to the course, could be affected if these assumptions regarding costs were released.



Failte Ireland eventually released a heavily redacted copy of the economic impact assessment, but the Irish Independent asked the Information Commissioner to rule on whether all of it should be in the public domain.



Last month, Stephen Rafferty, a senior investigator in the office, ruled it should be. "I am not satisfied that the withheld information is commercially sensitive or confidential," he said in the ruling.



"Nor am I satisfied that it is reasonable to expect that the effect of releasing the information would be the losing of major sporting events in the future, and damaged reputation and relationships due to negative publicity."



Mr Rafferty added that while the EY report does have a figure for spending by Irish private stakeholders, it did not appear to be related to spending by Adare Manor on procuring upgrades.



He also noted that while the report does have an estimate for public costs relating to the event, "it seems to me they are quite high-level figures, and it is difficult to see how they could give parties to negotiations an insight into what the State would be willing to pay to procure various services".



He found that while Ryder Cup Europe did give information about the tournament in Italy to EY, it was not included in the final report. Instead, the figures used related to the 2018 event in France, with an inflation uplift. This meant the information was eight years old.



Mr Rafferty also noted that details about the hosting of the Ryder Cup in 2018 and 2023 were already in the public domain, due to an economic analysis done by Sheffield Hallam University. It found that the 2023 competition generated €262m for Italy, 11pc more than was generated in 2018.



A High Court appeal, normally on a point of law, must be launched not later than four weeks after an Information Commissioner's decision, which in this case was issued on June 29.

A spokesperson for the Department said: "The Department has lodged a third party appeal of a decision of the Office of the Information Commissioner, as provided for under Section 24 of the Freedom of Information Act 2014, concerning the report referred to. As this is an ongoing legal matter, no further comment will be made at this time."