TRUMP PUT WIND UP LEO
Taoiseach blasted for helping Donald sink plans for Irish turbines
LEO Varadkar was blasted yesterday after admitting he intervened to help Donald Trump block a wind farm plan in Doonbeg.
The Taoiseach’s first trip to the White House was marred by claims he showed a “shocking error of judgment”.
Before the traditional handing over of the bowl of shamrock, he told a lunch
on Capitol Hill that Trump called him more than three years ago, annoyed about plans for a wind farm near his prized Doonbeg golf resort in Clare.
He said: “I rang the county council and enquired about the planning permission and subsequently [it] was refused. The President gave me credit for that.”
Mr Varadkar diverted from his script at the lunch and recalled what he thought would be an amusing anecdote.
He said he thought it was a ”p*** take”
when an aide told him at a rugby match that Mr Trump was on the line.
The Taoiseach also conceded that his intervention may have had nothing to do with the planning permission being rejected.
But he faced a fierce backlash last night and Labour leader Brendan Howlin said: “The reports from Washington that he has made political representations on behalf of the business interests of President Trump are extraordinary.” Mr Howlin said the Taoiseach needs to “make clear
immediately the nature of these representations and if President Trump or a member of his family asked him to make them on his behalf”. He added: “For the Taoiseach to be seen to meddle
and intervene on planning processes at Doonbeg is entirely inappropriate.”
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said it displayed a “shocking error of judgment”.
He added: “This is a shocking admission from the Taoiseach, and it harks back to the very dark days in the Irish planning system, where political interference ensured that the rich and powerful got what they wanted. The fact that the Taoiseach so flippantly admitted his intervention today only
makes matters worse. There is no doubt that he exercised undue influence and undermined due process with his intervention. It was and is completely inappropriate.
“Clare County Council now need to outline who the Minister contacted and whether there is a record of what was said.”
And Friends of the Earth accused Mr Varadkar of dropping a “diplomatic clanger on climate change”. Last night a spokesman for the Taoiseach said:
“As Minister for Tourism, Leo Varadkar received a call from Donald Trump regarding a wind farm proposal near Doonbeg, which is a significant tourism asset on the west coast.
“It’s normal for Ministers to seek information on planning applications when issues are raised by citizens, businesses or investors.
“This matter has been mentioned publicly on many occasions by the Taoiseach. It was not a court case or judicial matter.”