Former Open champion Shane Lowry has said his “heart goes out” to the families of the victims of the Grenfell fire.
Lowry ended his partnership with construction firm Kingspan on Tuesday, a week after the publication of the report into the fire.
The Ryder Cup player had come under pressure to end his sponsorship deal with the Irish building materials company since the Grenfell Tower tragedy, in which 72 people died in west London in June 2017.
Asked ahead of this week’s Irish Open about ending his sponsorship deal with Kingspan, Lowry initially declined to add any further comment to his statement on Tuesday.
Pressed on whether he could have made the decision sooner, Lowry added: “I can’t imagine what those families have gone through the last few years.
“I’m not going to sit here and talk too much about it, it’s obviously a touchy subject and my heart goes out to them.”
The final report of the Grenfell Inquiry, published last week, said the west London tower block was covered in combustible products because of the “systematic dishonesty” of firms who made and sold the cladding and insulation.
Kingspan had, from 2005 and even after the inquiry began in the wake of the fire, “knowingly created a false market in insulation” for use on buildings over 18 metres tall (59ft), it said.
While the report exempted the Irish company from responsibility for the spread of the fire, it found that Kingspan had used “dishonest strategies” and had a shown a “complete disregard” for fire safety.
Lowry had been under pressure to end the sponsorship deal after a spokesman for Grenfell United criticised the golfer for ignoring calls to address the issue.
Ed Daffarn, a member of the Grenfell United group of families, told The Guardian that Lowry had the Kingspan logo on the sleeve of his golf shirts, which he described as “deeply offensive”.
On Tuesday evening, the group said: “We first presented Shane Lowry with the Inquiry’s evidence three years ago, so we are pleased he has made the right decision to cut ties with Kingspan.
“We now call on all other sports professionals to follow suit and play their part to create a legacy for the 72 innocent lives that were cut short at Grenfell.”
