Newsday. com remarked on a very noticable tweak to the cost of accomodation: "The hotel rooms were cleared (and prices readjusted, steeply upward) to make room for people who came to watch Europe play the US." The Wall Street Journal smarted at the "McMansions" for sale around the Kildare golf course.

Palm Beach Post golf correspondent Alan Tays spent most of his time tracking down the original cast of The Commitments, an expedition that included a 60 taxi from Straffan to Time nightclub in Naas.

But so preoccupied was he at asking the all-important question . . . "What would Jimmy Rabbitte think of the Ryder Cup being in Dublin?" . . . Tays didn't notice the rip-off taxi.

The most scathing criticism came from the British press.

Mark Reason of the Telegraph said the residents of Straffan were "virtual prisoners in a security zone. . . The levels of security are preposterous."

He didn't stop there: "The prices of hotel rooms this week are positively obscene. In fact, one millionaire was so disgusted by the prices in Dublin that he is staying in Belfast and flying down in a helicopter each day. . ."

But perhaps the most vicious attack came from an article in Wales On Sunday titled: "Golf: Jaysus Ted, it's chaos! But we'll cash in."

"Dublin Airport still resembled a building site and Ireland greeted you inside the world's largest portakabin. . ." it said.

"The prawn sandwich brigade couldn't have been too pleased with a tree-obscured view from the pricey hospitality boxes, while Joe Public were knee deep in muck as the paths were more mud baths than walkways. . ."

The Boston Globe was consistently sceptical of the tone of the tournament. An editorial read: "[The Ryder Cup] has for some come to be something of a withering commentary on modern Ireland, where money trumps tradition, where big is always better, and where the punter, with only the price of a few drinks in his pockets, gets screwed."

That editorial was quoted in the Guardian last Monday in a scathing article. "The fact that 600 helicopter shuttles to Dublin have operated every day of the tournament has fostered the vague sense of elitism. This week has offered a reminder that there are some things money can't buy. Irish rain, for instance, remains dependably free."