*Cllr Rita McInerney. Photograph: Tom Micks
DIFFICULT conversations will need to be had with US President Donald Trump when he visits his five star West Clare resort, Doonbeg’s sole member of Clare County Council has said.
West Clare hotelier Donald Trump is to visit Doonbeg this weekend as Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Doonbeg Ireland becomes only the second-ever Clare venue to host The Irish Open.
Poll topper in the Kilrush local electoral area for the 2024 local elections, Cllr Rita McInerney (FF) has said politicians cannot shirk from having tough conversations with the US President when given the opportunity to do so during his visit this weekend.
She told The Clare Echo, ”it is an opportunity for our government to have a conversation with the United States and that can never be passed up on, there is a lot going on politically in the world in our country and needs to be discussed, views need to be made known. We have the Presidency of the EU, there is war in Ukraine, there is a lot of suffering around the world, as a country with the EU Presidency, we have a huge peace keeping history and we have a responsibility to make our views known to the President of the United States about the Israeli conflict, it is not easy conversations but they have to be had and made known in conjunction with that we also need a conversation on Ireland Inc, the trade situation and the amount of multinationals here that employ a lot of people, we are a small open economy relying on international trade so we need a discussion on tariffs”.
Maturity must be visible from all sides, Cllr McInerney insisted. “A mature political discussion between nations involves agreeing on some things and disagreeing on the others, seeing how you can work together and where you have differences working on those, that is the mature thing to do so that is the conversation that has to happen politically, they are not easy, you can’t ignore the fact that the Trump organisation own a property in Doonbeg, they employ people, they pay taxes, they are hosting a huge event and with Trump as President he will visit for that event so you have to use that as an opportunity, it is about the relationship with the White House and not necessarily the Trump organisation at the moment, in the long-term it is about the relationship with America so that has to be safeguarded. I don’t envy Micheál Martin’s job but we will help him as much as we can in terms of that relationship. Catherine Connolly has her views, politically we have to make our views known, we do separate the business and the politics as a community, we have to, as a country we have to speak up to”.
On Saturday, President Trump will meet with President Catherine Connolly at Áras an Uachtaráin. She demonstrated against his visit to Ireland in 2019 and has been a vocal opponent of war and the US use of Shannon Airport during her time as a TD, and during last year’s campaign she was highly critical of President Trump.
Balance is key to this engagement, Cllr McInerney said. “She has to represent the people of Ireland, there’s lots of views within Doonbeg in relation to the politics, a lot of us do not agree with his political actions or his stance on particular things. As President she doesn’t put forward her own personal views, she needs to put a balanced view forward, she can put a balanced view forward, she can give the view of people and it is within her right to do so. She is President for seven years, there will be another President of the US in two years time, she has to be mindful of that, when you’re thinking strategically you are not just thinking of the Trump organisaition you’re thinking of the long-term relationship and that is what she has to be mindful, we’re in a situation where people are being killed, it is a war we want to see end, I’ve no problem with putting her views forward as long as it is balanced”.
