Speculation is growing that next year’s G8 Summit could be held in a five-star Northern Irish golf resort.

British government sources have confirmed that the Lough Erne Golf Resort in Co. Fermanagh could play host to world leaders for the annual event. The luxury resort is set on its very own 600 acre peninsula, between Castle Hume Lough and Lower Lough Erne, just outside Enniskillen.

The G8 consists of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom. The European Union is also represented by the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council. World leaders gather at the G8 summit every year to discuss major global economic, political, and security challenges.

The UK will play host to the 2013 meeting, and Downing Street sources said Northern Ireland is among a number of locations under consideration.

The British Government previously hosted the summit in 2005 at the Gleneagles in Scotland, a similar resort to the Lough Erne.

The US hosted the event for the sixth time this year, at Camp David in Maryland.

The resort general manager Ferghal Purcell refused to comment on the speculation.

Purcell told the Irish Times: “We can’t comment on any of our clients’ businesses, nor would you expect me to. Every hotel ensures the privacy of their clients comes first”.