Trump lands first for chief
QUESTION Before Donald Trump, has any US president owned commercial properties in Ireland? WHEN Donald Trump paid €8.7million for his golf resort in Co. Clare in 2014, two years before he was elected, he became the first ever future, past or present US president to have owned property in Ireland.
Trump bought the hotel and golf links, formerly known as The Lodge, at Doonbeg in February 2014, and then pledged to invest €45million in it. When the resort had opened in 2002, it had cost €28million to build.
The property covers about 160 hectares and has 4km of seashore on the Atlantic coast. The hotel also has 218 luxury suites. The original plan to build a 2.8km sea wall to protect the property never materialised, but instead, in December 2017, planning permission was given for two smaller barriers against the sea.
Trump is by far the wealthiest president in American history. Two years ago, Forbes magazine estimated he was worth $3.7billion (€3.17billion), but his personal wealth remains a subject of some speculation. However, Trump’s wealth far exceeds that of the second-richest US president, John F. Kennedy, who was estimated to have been worth $1billion in today’s money.
Kennedy lived very comfortably off a family trust he shared with his siblings, but he was never able to inherit the enormous fortune accumulated by his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, who had made vast fortunes investing in banks, the film industry and even bootlegging, and put a lot of money into property. But he never invested in Irish property.
The third wealthiest US president was the first, George Washington, who was worth $525million (€450million) in today’s money. He owned much land across America, but never outside that country, and his holdings included his vast plantation in Virginia, complete with its 300 slaves.
Thomas Jefferson had a vast estate in Virginia, giving him a net worth in today’s currency of around $200million (€171million).
The fifth richest US president was Theodore Roosevelt, who inherited over $100million from his father. He was quite happy to live off his father’s wealth and never showed interest in making any money for himself. Sixth in the list is Andrew Jackson, with similar wealth to Roosevelt. He too had a vast plantation, in Tennessee, which was farmed by about 500 slaves.
In more modern times, Lyndon B. Johnson was worth a similar amount, mainly because of his family interests in radio and TV. More recently, former president Bill Clinton is worth an estimated $80million (€68.5million). Much of his wealth has been accumulated since he left office and has come largely from book deals and public speaking engagements. A certain amount of it has been generated by his interactions with Ireland over the years.
But in 229 years of American presidential history, the only US president to have invested in Irish property remains the current holder of the role, Donald Trump. Ian Murray, Dublin. QUESTION The Fifties TV show Oh Boy! featured the Vernons Girls. What became of them? THE Vernons Girls were, at first, a choir of 16 formed in the midFifties and made up of female clerical workers at Vernons Pools, a major football pools company that rivalled Zetters and Littlewoods.
TV and music impresario Jack Good signed them up to provide backing for TV shows such as Oh Boy!, The Eamonn Andrews Show and The Six-Five Special.
They won a contract with EMI’s Parlophone label and in 1958 released an eponymous album singing old standards such as Over The Rainbow, Come Dance With Me and We’ll Gather Lilacs.
Following the demise of Oh Boy! in 1959, Vernons Girls became a trio, singing rock ’n’ roll and American hits. The principal line-up was Maureen Kennedy, Jean Owen and Frances Lea, with replacements including Lyn Cornell and Joyce Baker. By 1962 they had signed to Decca Records. Their cover of You Know What I Mean and The Drifters’ Lover Please were hits. In the US, the group charted in 1963 with the tribute album We Love The Beatles. The Sixties pop explosion was ultimately the cause of their demise, but several members of the group went on to have more success.
Lyn Cornell formed The Pearls, who had a hit in 1974 with Guilty, and was a singer with the James Last Orchestra.
Joyce Baker married singersongwriter Marty Wilde and they formed a trio with Justin Hayward called The Wilde Three. One of Joyce’s three children is the pop star Kim Wilde. Maggie Stredder, an early Vernons Girl, formed a trio called The Ladybirds, who featured on The Benny Hill Show.
Vicky Haseman, another Vernons original, formed The Breakaways, an all-girl trio, who sang backing for Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, Cliff Richard and Jimi Hendrix. She married rock ’n’ roller Joe Brown and was a prolific session singer under the name Vicki Brown. Her daughter Sam is a singer-songwriter and son Pete is a record producer. Vicki sang with a host of famous names including George Harrison, Roger Waters and Gary Moore. She also sang backing for Pink Floyd on tour. She died of breast cancer in 1991, aged 50. Gareth Mills, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion. QUESTION Can food crops such as brassicas be used for fuel? BRASSICA is a genus of plants in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). Almost all parts can be eaten, including the root (swede, turnip), stems (kohlrabi), leaves (cabbage, kale), flowers (cauliflower, broccoli), buds (Brussels sprouts, cabbage) and seeds (mustard seed and rapeseed).
From the 16th century, oilseed rape, Brassica napus, was the major source of lamp oil until petroleum took over in the 19th century. A chemically converted form called rapeseed methyl ester is an important biofuel. In Europe, the biodiesel industry has been active for 20 years and 75% of biofuels produced within the EU are derived from rapeseed oil.
Turnip seed and mustard seed also have biodiesel potential. James Seymour, Oxford.
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