{"id":670711,"date":"2026-01-03T07:41:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T07:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/670711\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T07:41:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T07:41:21","slug":"rory-mcilroy-tv-presenter-gerry-kelly-among-those-questioning-knighthood-omission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/670711\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy: TV presenter Gerry Kelly among those questioning knighthood omission"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victory in The Masters last April completed the set of golf\u2019s major titles, making him only the fifth in history to achieve the feat and the first from the UK.<\/p>\n

There had been expectations after representations from the Executive Office that McIlroy, who was made an MBE after his first major victory in 2011, would be knighted.<\/p>\n

His omission came as a bit of a surprise for avid golfer Gerry Kelly, who has spent the last year fondly recalling how the 9-year-old Rory made his TV debut on his Kelly Show back in 1999.<\/p>\n

\"Gerry<\/p>\n

Gerry Kelly<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m simply not a fan of the honours system. It\u2019s outdated, undemocratic and does not consistently reward merit, or the diversity of the Northern Ireland population,\u201d said Gerry, who questioned the merit of some other sportspeople who did make this year\u2019s honours list.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one should be given an award for simply doing their, often well-paid, job. But when five or six \u2018lionesses\u2019 were given MBEs, one has to ask why? Who actually judges these things?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would seem the original aim to actually reward exceptional public service has been replaced by fame and wealth.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsidering Rory\u2019s unique achievements in his sport and his undoubted charity work behind the scenes, then yes, of course he should have been recognised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ronan Valley Golf Course in Magherafelt is where a lot of young golfers get their first taste of the sport.<\/p>\n

The owner and manager of the course is Peter Tohill, who said: \u201cWhen you look at his whole career he\u2019s achieved everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can remember the time Rory stopped off here and played a round. He was just a cub at the time and when you see a talent like that, you follow his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure how much more he could have done.<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/p>\n

Peter Tohill, owner and manager at Ronan Valley Golf Course in Magherafelt (right) with Zack Gavigan and Conor Tohill.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not only in the sport where he has had a huge impact, it\u2019s off the course too. He\u2019s been the ambassador for golf, the player everyone looks to. He\u2019s carried a lot on his back and still come out winning.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe also does a lot of work for charities in the background and doesn\u2019t really shout about it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Coming off course after his latest round at Ronan Valley, Ciaran Wright agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe should have been recognised for his achievements this year,\u201d he said. \u201cLook at the abuse he and his family put up with at the Ryder Cup, yet still he was the one the whole of Europe looked to as their leader on the course. Yes, he did win the BBC\u2019s Sports Personality of the Year, but even that took a good few years longer to come than it should have.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Daily Telegraph reported that a potential concern could have been McIlroy\u2019s connection to a previous investment that was later examined by HM Revenue & Customs, though there has been no suggestion that McIlroy acted improperly or intended to avoid tax when he invested in a 2015 scheme.<\/p>\n

\"Brendan<\/p>\n

Brendan Kidd with his grandson Connan Hegarty at Moyola Park Golf Club.<\/p>\n

In Castledawson, the frost-covered fairways of Moyola Park didn\u2019t put the seasoned amateurs off. Some had been out on the course since 6am.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose everyone\u2019s saying it, but you do wonder if he\u2019d been from London whether the knighthood would have been a straightforward \u2018here you go, well done\u2019,\u201d said golfer Noel McMullan.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I do think a lot of people get these honours too soon, before they\u2019ve completed their careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would have been a great way to cap off his year of achievement, but I\u2019m sure it\u2019ll come his way eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Craig McAuley added: \u201cWhen you look at what he has done for his sport and for his country, then yes, he does deserve it. Apart from being a champion on an individual level, he\u2019s had a huge effect on young people taking up the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ready to start their round at Moyola Park, Noleen and Joseph McHugh said they have seen other sports stars honoured for their achievements, so asked, \u201cwhy not Rory McIlroy\u201d?<\/p>\n

\"Golfers<\/p>\n

Golfers at Moyola Park in Castedawson, Noleen and Joseph McHugh<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s proved he is a champion and is right at the top of his sport,\u201d said Joseph. \u201cSports stars like Andy Murray were still playing tennis as a \u2018Sir\u2019 and Lewis Hamilton is still in Formula One. Do Rory\u2019s achievements not rank alongside them?<\/p>\n

Noleen agreed. \u201cHe\u2019s not from London,\u201d she said. \u201cYou do wonder if that would have made a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A young Rory McIlroy on Gerry Kelly show<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy named BBC Sports Personality of the Year <\/p>\n

Liam O\u2019Neill believes Rory himself won\u2019t be too bothered by the row that\u2019s developed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe probably deserves the recognition,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would have been a nice way to round off the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do see a lot of people on these lists and wonder what they did to deserve to get that honour. If his name was put forward, I don\u2019t know why he wouldn\u2019t have been included this time, but we don\u2019t make these decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victory in The Masters last April completed the set of golf\u2019s major titles, making him only the fifth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":667021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[2826,4287,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-670711","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-rory-mcilroy","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115830042611591922","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/667021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}