Irish golfers are spending €379M ($409.7M) per year on their sport, according to a report commissioned by the Confederation of Golf in Ireland and the R&A, according to Liam Kelly of the IRISH INDEPENDENT. Of the €379M, the top three elements of consumer spending within the sport are €94M ($101.6M) on club membership fees, €46M ($49.7M) on food and beverage in clubs and €39M ($42.2M) on golf equipment. Carried out by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, the research also showed that "9,030 people are directly employed within the golf sector on the island of Ireland, with 6,800 of these in the Republic." Golf clubs are the "most significant" employers (34%), followed by the golf equipment and sportswear sectors (13%) and the tourism and accommodation industries (11%). The report said that "the Republic has 281,000 adult golfers and Northern Ireland 103,000, of whom 160,000 play at least once every four weeks." Individually, consumer spending per adult golfer in the Republic reaches an average of €1,350 ($1,459) per year (IRISH INDEPENDENT, 3/28).