{"id":894461,"date":"2026-09-13T17:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T17:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/894461\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T17:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T17:36:10","slug":"trumps-irish-golf-resort-creates-economic-boom-stirs-friction-in-doonbeg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/894461\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Irish golf resort creates economic boom, stirs friction in Doonbeg"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A protester wears sunglasses and sits in front of a poster depicting U.S. President Donald Trump during his visit to the Irish Open at the Trump International Golf Links course in Doonbeg, Ireland, Sept. 13.Kin Cheung\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Some people in Ireland can\u2019t wait for U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> weekend visit, with its tight security and political tensions, to be over.<\/p>\n

But one corner of the country has a lot of time for the president, whose Irish golf resort has brought jobs, tourists and the international spotlight to the village of Doonbeg on the country\u2019s boggy, wind-lashed Atlantic coast.<\/p>\n

Even in Doonbeg, though, Trump has his opponents, who have staged protests and even enlisted tiny snails to try to block his golf course plans.<\/p>\n

Snails snag Trump\u2019s ballroom plan<\/p>\n

Trump spent much of Saturday and Sunday here, attending the Irish Open at the Trump International Golf Links. Since his organization bought the then-financially struggling resort in 2014. It has been an economic boon for the region, but also a source of friction.<\/p>\n

The latest flashpoint is Trump\u2019s planned ballroom \u2013 not the one at the White House, but a 320-capacity venue at the golf resort.<\/p>\n

A group of environmentalists has tried to block construction, saying it will harm tiny narrow-mouthed whorl snails that live in the area and are protected under European Union rules.<\/p>\n

After several years of wrangling, Clare County Council approved the ballroom in February, on condition Trump\u2019s Irish company draws up a plan to monitor and manage the snails.<\/p>\n

The company, which says construction will not harm the miniature mollusks, is seeking to alter the conditions, while a lone Irish objector with a history of blocking development projects has launched a new appeal to overturn planning permission. A final decision on all of that is pending.<\/p>\n

Trump calls for Irish reunification during visit to his Doonbeg golf course<\/a><\/p>\n

Many local organizations supported the planning application, and some in Doonbeg see the environmental complaint as opportunistic. Local councillor Rita McInerney said that \u201cmuch of the objection came from people who simply wanted to object to what Trump was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s golf course is an economic lifeline<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s visit, a mix of work and family vacation for the president, brought road closures, hundreds of police officers and scores of protesters to the remote rural part of County Clare, some 280 kilometres west of Dublin.<\/p>\n

But many people in Doonbeg say the disruption is worth it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is brilliant for the west Clare area,\u201d said Martin Kelly, who runs a local construction firm and says the Trump resort creates \u201ca massive amount of employment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re lucky to have it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s also the view of Irish Prime Minister Miche\u00e1l Martin, who told Trump in Dublin on Saturday that the Doonbeg course is a \u201cvaluable asset to the area\u201d that \u201cillustrates the strength of the economic relationship between our two countries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump speaks with spectators as he attends the final round of the Irish Open golf tournament at the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel on Sept. 13.BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Some protest but others support the golf resort<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s presence drew protests, though far smaller than the thousands who marched Saturday in Dublin. Dozens of people stood on Doonbeg\u2019s main street on Sunday with Palestinian flags and placards protesting Trump\u2019s support for the Gaza war and his polices on immigration and the environment.<\/p>\n

Many objected to what they saw as Trump\u2019s attempts to strong-arm smaller countries, and his insistence on Saturday that and his frequent complaints that other countries are taking advantage of the U.S. in trade relations.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur fear as people in Ireland is that our government will try to appease him because of the importance of foreign direct investment in Ireland,\u201d said Sarah Clancy, who helped organize the protests in Doonbeg. \u201cEven if we\u2019re economically linked with the United States, we don\u2019t see that as a reason that we can\u2019t stand our ground, even if our government sometimes lets us down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others said they oppose Trump\u2019s policies but feel there is a limit to what anyone in Ireland, a country with a population of less than six million, can do.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of these rural coastal areas depend on tourism,\u201d said Lily De Sylva, who works for a local community radio station. \u201cSo, yes, the Trump resort is important.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t welcome him here or anywhere, but I can\u2019t stop him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul O\u2019Loughlin travelled from Wicklow in southeast Ireland to attend the tournament. He said some of his friends refused to come to a Trump-owned golf course.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think us not going is going to make any difference to him,\u201d O\u2019Loughlin said. \u201cI respect the protesters, I think they\u2019re great coming down and making their point. But it\u2019s falling on deaf ears, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A protester wears sunglasses and sits in front of a poster depicting U.S.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":894462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,622,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,82,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-894461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-golf","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=894461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/894461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/894462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=894461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=894461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=894461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}