*Donald Trump.
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump “would be more than welcome” to attend The Irish Open in Doonbeg, the Minister for Agriculture has said.
On Wednesday, Trump Doonbeg was confirmed as the venue for the 2026 Amgen Irish Open. The Clare Echo reported last month that the five star West Clare resort was the leading contender to host the tournament.
Eric Trump stated this week that the Trump Organisation is “incredibly proud” that the 2026 Amgen Irish Open will be held at its resort in Doonbeg.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin (FF) outlined that an “open invitation” was issued to US President Trump to visit Ireland when he was in The White House in March for the St Patrick’s Day celebrations. Trump did not meet the Taoiseach in The White House on St Patrick’s Day as is customary but instead hosted former UFC fighter Conor McGregor.
According to the Taoiseach there is “no question” that Trump would be “welcome to Ireland” for the event. “There will be differences of opinion, that’s natural,” he said. “We live in a democracy, and we facilitate protests, we facilitate people with different agreements but the fundamentals are that we continue to support that US-Ireland relationship because it puts bread on the table of a lot of Irish people”.
Tánaiste Simon Harris (FG) stopped short of welcoming a Trump visit to West Clare for The Irish Open. “Where the Irish Open is (held) is not a matter for me. There are things that are matters for me, but this is a matter for the sponsor to the Irish Open and others”.
A much warmer reception for Trump to pop into his Doonbeg resort was issued by Minister for Agriculture and the Marine, Martin Heydon (FG) when he visited Co Clare on Friday morning.
Minister Heydon was in Hotel Woodstock for the Farming in Clare: What the Future Holds conference organized by Clare TD, Joe Cooney (FG).
Despite differing views on certain policies, Minister Heydon said the US President would be given a warm welcome by the Irish Government to become the first resident of The White House to attend The Irish Open while in office. “Donald Trump owns Doonbeg Golf Course and if he turns up he would be more than welcome, I’ve no doubt the people of Doonbeg will give him a warm welcome. We don’t agree with everything on President Trump or with different leaders in different positions but we will always continue to talk to each other.
“I was out in America in April on a trade mission and met my counterpart Brooke Rollins who is a very close ally of President Trump, we’ve great connections and her grandfather was originally from Galway, we spoke of these deep connections that bind us but we disagree on certain policies and it is more important than ever to keep talking so he is welcome here anytime and I will talk to him anytime he does come,” he added.
Kildare native Heydon was hopeful Doonbeg and West Clare would experience the same boost enjoyed by The K Club when hosting this year’s Irish Open. “I can tell the people of Clare as a proud Kildare man that I know the benefit of having The Irish Open in The K Club last week, I was at it on the Saturday, every bar, café in the vicinity of Straffan from Naas to Clane benefitted, every hotel room was full, it was brilliant for the area. The eyes of the world were on Kildare last week when Rory McIlroy putted that eagle and I hope ye have a similar ending to The Irish Open in Doonbeg next year because it is a showcase to the world and it will put Clare tourism on the map, it is a brilliant thing for the county”.
