*US President Donald Trump. Photograph: Joe Buckley
MEMBERS of the Trump family remain resolute that the planned ballroom for their five-star resort will proceed.
Further investment into the Doonbeg resort was pledged by US President Donald Trump when he mixed in the members bar of the hotel on Saturday night. He expressed confidence that obstacles by way of a sole objection to the expansion with An Coimisiún Pleanála (ACP) would be overcome and add to the product at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Doonbeg Ireland.
According to the Trump family, the ballroom would “easily” lead to an investment of €20 to €40m. Speaking in Doonbeg on Sunday, President Trump declared, “we are getting the approvals for a beautiful ballroom”.
Clare County Council in February approved plans for the permanent ballroom structure which will have capacity for 320 people but issued a requirement that a management plan be drafted for the protected snail, the 2mm Vertigo Angustior.
Plans for the ballroom have been stalled since March following the submission of an objection by Longford based Liam Madden. The seventy six year old had also tabled separate appeals with ACP for upgrades at the Doonbeg resort. He described the Council’s attachment of the conversation plan as “a farce”.
In a profile interview with The Washington Post, Madden remarked, “If there is a God in heaven, I will win the planning appeals and capitalise on it for notoriety”. He claimed the Doonbeg ballroom would never come to pass, “I’ve caught them with their pants down”, before adding, “Joe Biden beat Donald Trump once. I’ve beaten him twice”.
Speaking during The Amgen Irish Open in Doonbeg, Eric Trump addressed the “red tape” surrounding their plans. “We’re going to build the ballroom,” Eric stressed. “I can’t tell you how many people have gotten so frustrated with the red tape here,” he said. “Building a ballroom for a beautiful hotel should not be controversial.”
Eric added, “Doonbeg wants it 100 percent, the county wants it 100 percent, everybody here wants it 100 percent, the employees want it, all the members want it and you have one person who lives 200 miles away who’s just willing to put in objections, it’s insane”.
“Nowhere else in the world would they allow that kind of behaviour because it hurts economic investment and an entire nation and somebody should intervene,” he added.
Potential of the development of a Trump Tower in Doonbeg was also floated by Eric. “The only properties that we have any interest in are the ones that can be the absolute best, and that’s why we bought Doonbeg,” he commented.
