NI should have ‘biggest party possible’ to welcome Rory McIlroy home – O’Neill

By Jonathan McCambridge and Rebecca Black, PA

Northern Ireland should have a “huge party” to welcome home golfing champion Rory McIlroy, First Minister Michelle O’Neill has said.

Ms O’Neill said people are “bursting with pride” at McIlroy’s achievement in winning the Masters, which should be celebrated “in the best possible style”.

Co Down golfer McIlroy, who achieved the career grand slam with his Augusta victory, lives in the US.

Speaking moments after winning the coveted green jacket, McIlroy said his parents Gerry and Rosie were back in Northern Ireland, but he was looking forward to celebrating with them.

Ms O’Neill described McIlroy’s victory as “an emotional rollercoaster for everybody”.

She added: “We all were behind him every step of the way.

“I think his story is one of such a positive journey that no matter how many setbacks you have in life, if you work hard and are determined, you can get there in the end.

“I look forward to welcoming Rory home. I hope that we have the biggest reception possible because we are bursting with pride in terms of what he has achieved over the weekend.”

Asked about plans for an official event to mark McIlroy’s victory, Ms O’Neill said: “I think we have to have the biggest party possible.

“I think we are so proud of what he has achieved, he speaks so loudly to all young people out there that if you have a dream, that you can achieve it.

“If you look at Rory’s journey over many, many years, all the setbacks and he kept going back at it and back at it.

“So, yes, we should have a huge party.

“I certainly will raise that with the sports minister (Gordon Lyons).”

She added: “But I want to welcome him home in the best possible style we can to show him we are proud of what he has achieved.

“He is an ambassador for us, he is the first person from this island to win the green jacket.

“I think that we have to celebrate something that is very positive and he will always be a huge role model for all the young people out there.”

TUV leader Jim Allister said the “onus” was now on Stormont to ensure there was a “suitable” homecoming celebration for the golfer.

He said: “In securing the grand slam of golfing titles, Rory has written himself into the sporting history books.

“This is an achievement of which he, of course, will be personally, deeply proud and, because he has never forgotten his Holywood roots.

“It is something the people of Northern Ireland will feel they can celebrate along with him.

“Given that only a handful of golfers in the world have ever achieved this feat, attention will now turn to how the success will be marked.

“There is an onus on Stormont to ensure that there is a suitable homecoming celebration for Rory and that his sporting success is capitalised on in such a way so as to inspire local young people to emulate his success.”

Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt has called on McIlroy to be knighted.

He said: “For a country the size of Northern Ireland, it is remarkable how many sports people have become icons in their fields.

“Think George Best, Mike Gibson, and Mary Peters, to name just three.

“Rory McIlroy has just trumped all of them and with the grand slam monkey off his back, looks set for even more success.

“This universally popular figure deserves the highest praise the nation can bestow, and a knighthood is just that.”

Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said McIlroy’s victory had “lifted everybody’s hearts right across the island”.

She added: “It is a great moment for Irish sport, for golf, for young people looking on to see somebody achieve their dream in such dramatic and breathtaking fashion is really, really wonderful.”