It only took 127 years for change to come about but, finally, the men-only membership policy at Portmarnock Golf Club in north county Dublin – which stubbornly stuck to its exclusion of women members since its founding in 1894 – has overwhelmingly voted for change. Portmarnock Golf Club, with a membership that includes many leading members of the judiciary and medical professionals, issued a brief 103-word statement to signal a seismic change in its membership policy to “now become gender-neutral” in marking “a positive development in the Club’s long and distinguished history”. The issue of refusing women membership of the club has been a live one for a number of decades. In 2009, legal action by the Equality Authority led the Supreme Court to rule that Portmarnock Golf Club was “not a discriminating” club under the Equal Status Act, upholding by a majority of three to two a 2005 High Court decision. With Portmarnock Golf Club finally taking the decision of its own accord to welcome women members, the question arises: Who will be the first?

Source: The Irish Times May 26, 2021 17:28 UTC