An Irishman's name has been engraved on the silver Claret Jug for only the second time, Padraig Harrington's joining that of Fred Daly, who won the trophy in 1947, but the R&A have no plans for bringing the British Open Championship to Ireland.

The body which runs the oldest major championship conducted studies at Royal County Down, which will stage the Walker Cup in September, and Royal Portrush to see if they were suitable venues. However, it was deemed that the infrastructure - suitable hotels and road networks - were unsuitable, while it was also felt that neither course would be capable of facilitating the crowds that attend the tournament.

David Hill, the championship secretary of the R&A, conducted one of the feasibility studies.

"Being from Portrush myself, I know every blade of grass on the course and every nook and cranny, so nobody has to tell me what a wonderful links it - or County Down, for that matter - is," he said.

"Royal Portrush is a course that can compare with any on our rota. Indeed, it can compare with the very best anywhere in the world. But the course itself is by no means the sole criteria when selecting a venue for the championship, and Portrush, regrettably, falls some way short of what is required in a number of areas.

"Even though I know the course and surrounding area so well that it wasn't really necessary, I did carry out a detailed study of the possibility a few years ago, and the infrastructure, quite frankly, just isn't there, and anyone who knows the course and the area would have to acknowledge that. There just isn't, as things stand at the moment, anywhere approaching the space or facilities that would be required.

"Car parking is an obvious one, and corporate requirements and hotel accommodation would be others.

"But the principal difficulty would be crowd capacity and movement. Portrush would only be suitable if the crowd were to be limited to around 15,000 per day, and that, bearing in mind Carnoustie was able to take 35,000 per day comfortably, just wouldn't be realistic. Moving the crowds around the course would be extremely difficult also."

Hill pointed to the area around the fourth hole, which overlooks cliffs looking out to the ruins of Dunluce Castle.

"It would be practically impossible to move the crowd either right or left of that hole as it is set up at the moment. Changes to the course itself would be required to solve the crowd problem, and that, obviously, would be a matter for Portrush Golf Club.

"The whole thing would require major, very major, investment in and around the area. Somebody from Ireland would need to talk to us about their ideas and what they would be prepared to invest. We would never rule it out, but, with all the investment and work that would be required, it would be some years down the road - if ever."