One of Ireland's most prestigious golf clubs was taken to the highest court in the country today in an attempt to overturn its policy to refuse women membership.
The exclusive Portmarnock Golf Club in north Co Dublin went before the Supreme Court as the Equality Authority made a final attempt to get the club to change its rules.
Women can play at the club, but they are not allowed to become full members.
Frank Callanan, Senior Counsel for the Equality Authority, argued the club must allow women and men to become full members because it was 'not a social club created for pure male society fraternity companionships'.
Mr Callanan said it was also not a club whose principal purpose was to cater only for the needs of persons of the male gender.
'Golf is not a need that is peculiar to persons of the male gender,' he added.
The action, which centres on a section of the Equal Status Act, is aimed at overturning a High Court ruling made three years ago that backed the club's regulations.
Counsel for Portmarnock Golf Club, Donal O'Donnell, argued that while the activity of the club was golf, its purpose was to cater for men only and on this basis it refused membership to women.
In summing up his points, Ms Justice Fidelma Macken, presiding, asked: 'Golf is the activity, but the principal purpose is to cater for the needs of men, that is your argument is it?'
'Yes,' he replied.
The five-judge Supreme Court adjourned hearing the reminder of the case until next month.
Joanna McMinn, of the National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI) which is supporting the appeal, said while the case was about access by women to a prestigious club, at its heart was the much broader need to assert the status of women and break down ongoing discrimination.
She said: 'Women are excluded from the benefits that come with membership of Portmarnock but these benefits are not only recreational but also social and economic.
'There is a broader purpose served by networking in golf clubs, where deals are done and contacts made that enhance career and business prospects.'
