Lowry and Kingspan agree to end sponsorship deal

The insulation company Kingspan will no longer sponsor Shane Lowry, the Irish golfer has confirmed.

The 2019 Open champion released a short statement announcing the end of his partnership with the company on Tuesday.

Last week, Kingspan was heavily criticised in the final report on the Grenfell Tower inquiry.

The blaze in west London in 2017 resulted in the deaths of 72 people. The report found Kingspan, which is headquartered in County Cavan, was not directly responsible for the fire but showed "complete disregard for fire safety" in how it marketed one of its products.

“Kingspan and I have mutually agreed to discontinue our sponsorship relationship, which we believe to be the right decision for all concerned at this time," said Lowry.

“Neither party will be commenting further.”

Lowry's sponsorship deal with Kingspan began in May 2017, just one month before the fire.

As part of the deal, the Ryder Cup player wore the company's logo on the sleeve of his shirts while competing.

The building products firm is one of the Republic of Ireland's biggest businesses and sponsors Ulster Rugby, who announced in January that their association with the company will end in June 2025.

A small amount of a Kingspan insulation product, Kooltherm K15, which was used on the building, was not the reason for the fire.

The main cause was the tower's cladding, which did not comply with building regulations and allowed flames to spread rapidly.

However, the inquiry's final report, external sets out a "path to disaster" stretching back to the 1990s and looking at the broader conduct of the construction industry.

It found that Kingspan "knowingly created a false market in insulation" from 2005 onwards for use on buildings over 18 metres tall.