Padraig Harrington has hailed the return of The Open to Royal Portrush as a powerful symbol of Northern Ireland moving forward, recalling his own journeys north during the Troubles when a 500lb bomb was dismissed as a “wee problem”. The two‑time Open champion and current European Ryder Cup captain will compete in the 148th Open, the first in Northern Ireland since 1951.
Harrington, who began travelling from Dublin to play amateur championships as a teenager in 1987, described being stopped on the road and diverted away from a bomb. Yet he insists the experience did not scar him. “I don’t think people could have been nicer,” he said. “There was definitely an appreciation that you had come to play up there at the time; some people wouldn’t go. I just always remember how welcoming and nice they were.”
The 47‑year‑old added that his view of Northern Ireland was shaped only by positive encounters. “People coming up from the south had a view of Northern Ireland and that was certainly not what I experienced,” he said. “Even if we went to the wrong place, people would be nice to you and help you get out of that place.”
Harrington expressed hope that a hard border would not be reintroduced after Brexit, saying it “stops the ability of goods and people to flow”. He recalled the starkness of military checkpoints where a young soldier’s gun would point at him. “You are sitting there thinking: ‘Please let nothing happen to scare this lad’ … It’s an odd feeling.”
Harrington holds a deep affinity with Royal Portrush, where he once held the course record until “some young kid tore it apart” – a reference to Rory McIlroy. He described the Open’s return as “huge” and a sign of progress.
