Drawing back from golf after business with Ireland (8)
I believe the answer is:
cowering
'drawing back' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'golf after business with ireland' is the wordplay.
'golf' becomes 'g' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'business' becomes 'co' (short for company).
'with' becomes 'w' (short for with).
'ireland' becomes 'Erin' (poetic name for Ireland).
'co'+'w'+'erin'='cowerin'
'g' after 'cowerin' is 'COWERING'.
'from' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for cowering that I've seen before include "Drawing back" , "Cringing in fear" , "Crouching down in fear" .)