TOUR NEWS:THE HARSH reality, whether we like it or not, is that this is probably as good as it gets for the Irish Open. And, to be fair, it was good.

Yesterday, as the work started on dismantling the grandstands, the preliminary talks between the European Tour - the custodians of the tournament - and those at the heart of its revival, principally Tom Kane of Adare Manor, but also newly-installed Minister for Sport Martin Cullen, had already taken place on its future.

The strong likelihood, given the success of this year's championship which saw crowds of 64,193 over the four days with England's Richard Finch emerging victorious, is that Adare Manor - which more than passed the test, both as a course and a venue - will, as contracted, again play host to the tournament in 2009.

"I'd definitely like to see it back here. It's a great venue, a great golf course," said Darren Clarke.

"We are committed (to the Irish Open)," said PGA European Tour chief executive George O'Grady. "We have underwritten them (in recent years) and are indebted to Tom Kane for putting on such a good Irish Open . . . we've been discussing the future and the ball is in his court. It is contracted to be in Adare next year. It's his wish to be the man to move it along and he wants, down the line, to take a view on what is good for Ireland."

O'Grady added he had held short discussions with Minister Cullen and reported that the government was "very committed" to the tournament and that further talks were planned. "It's a bit early to say," added O'Grady, "but it's hard to ever think there would be a time when you don't have a really strong Irish Open. That's always been our intention."

For sure, what the Kane family - which has taken the brunt of the financial strain in hosting the event - has done in two years has to give the Irish Open back a lot of its old spirit. The crowds, up over 10 per cent on a year ago, created an atmosphere that surpassed the vast majority of so-called "regular tournaments" on the European Tour. Overall, the positives far outweighed any negatives.

Yet, as Pádraig Harrington, who relinquished his title, acknowledged afterwards: "There is more to be done. I don't know about the date. The date isn't the worst date in the world, but it is not the best date. What else can be done? I think you have to make it the best event it can be (for players and spectators) and I think the last two years have definitely been better."

Prior to the championship, Harrington had pointed out that many tournaments fighting to regain their places in the pecking order had resorted to paying appearance money. "The Irish Open doesn't pay appearance fees, so it automatically has a difficult position to be in in order to encourage players to play.

"So you really do have to give the full player experience to the mid-ranked player so that when he becomes a top-ranked player, he'll always feels the Irish Open is one of the best events. It's a long term thing . . . you have to build relationships with the players essentially."

It is known that Kane has no qualms whatsoever with the current date (sandwiched between The Players and the BMW PGA), as Adare Manor is a resort course and, obviously, a business.

So, does Harrington believe the future of the Irish Open - which has operated without a title sponsor for the past two years - is safe? "No, I don't think the future of any tournament is safe. It's cut throat out there now. You see big sponsors pulling out because there is not that many dates in the year. It's a great time to be a player, but a tough time to be a tour and a sponsor."

Did he believe corporate Ireland should get more heavily involved? "Well, it's difficult for corporate Ireland. I believe you need a global sponsor for these tournaments because, at the end of the day, the only value to get for a sponsor is in the global market.

"When you are getting to the stage of a title sponsor being asked to put in maybe a million and a half or two million, it is a lot in an Irish context. Ireland can only sustain to a certain level, and this is why you see so many of the bigger sponsors moving to Asia. It is about global marketing for sponsors, and trying to get value for it. It has to be value-based and that means getting value in all markets . . . and that means you have to be a global company."

What of Fáilte Ireland? "Well, there is probably one of the few global companies that could be getting that value with nice pictures going out around the world. It's shown throughout Europe and the United States, which is obviously Fáilte Ireland's market and they are one of the few sponsors you could see getting the value out of it. But, then, they are already a sponsor. They put their money in and don't ask for much back and allow the title sponsor to go elsewhere . . . I suppose they are turning down sponsors in the States, so there must be some out there."

Unless a global sponsor is found, the likelihood is that the Irish Open - which is now the only full tournament left here with the European Open's move to England - will have to settle for being arguably among the best of all the mid-ranked tournaments, a few rungs below the majors and the world golf championships.