‘We won’t forget what he has done for us’ – Doonbeg locals say Trump will always be welcome in village
DOONBEG locals insist US President Donald Trump will always be welcome in the Clare village where he has helped deliver jobs, prosperity and a remarkable tourism boost.
The vow came amid speculation that the village might be an alternative venue for Mr Trump in the days after he leaves office on January 20.
The possibility that he might visit his golf resort in Scotland after president-elect Joe Biden takes office prompted Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to warn such a visit purely for golf would not be permitted at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Her warning was issued before the controversial events last Wednesday which saw President Trump address a crowd of supporters in Washington – reiterating his claims the recent election was stolen – before they stormed past police into the Capitol.
The incident sparked outrage in the US and has prompted calls for a historic suspension of Mr Trump’s powers by his own cabinet.
Former justice minister and Limerick TD Willie O’Dea warned Mr Trump could be thinking of visiting Ireland and his luxury Doonbeg resort in late January.
“We cannot have a (possible) carrier coming into the country for a game of golf at this time, no matter who he is,” he said.
However, Doonbeg locals said Mr Trump had done a lot for the Clare community over the years and they will not forget that fact.
One local, Mort McInerney, said it was very sad that what he called all the good Mr Trump achieved for both the US and Ireland had been overshadowed by the controversial events of Wednesday in Washington.
“President Trump will always be welcome in Doonbeg,” he said.
“He has helped create employment in the area and he has helped bring tourists into Doonbeg.”
Mr McInerney said he felt the media hadn’t always been fair to Mr Trump, who had invested his family’s money in developing the Clare golf complex.
“He has done a lot of good for the US and for Ireland.
“But you don’t hear too much about that in the media,” he said.
“President Trump and his family will always be welcome here in Doonbeg – we won’t forget what he has done for this area. He has helped support the creation of vital local employment.”
Igoe Inn owner Caroline Kennedy said the publicity from the US political visits to Doonbeg had clearly boosted the local tourism industry before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
“The resort (golf club) is the biggest employer in west Clare and those are vital jobs for the area,” she said.
“Everyone living locally is very grateful for the economic benefit the Doonbeg resort offers. In normal times it brings people into the restaurants, shops and pubs.
“It is very important for the area. These are important jobs.”
Mr Trump made a high-profile visit to his Doonbeg property during a trip to Europe in June 2019.
It sparked one of the biggest security operations mounted by gardaí for decades with all roads into the small Clare village sealed off and teams of US Secret Service agents surrounding the golf resort.
Mr Trump, who flew into the resort by US Marine Corps helicopter, hosted an informal dinner for guests at Doonbeg resort before enjoying a game
of golf on its award-winning course.
Later, he took time to greet teachers and students from Clohanes primary school which is located just one kilometre from his golf course.
Clohanes principal Aideen O’Mahoney said Mr Trump was “very, very nice” to make time to greet the schoolchildren who serenaded him with the ballad My Lovely Rose of Clare.
Doonbeg also boasts a double connection to the Trump administration with US vice-president Mike Pence having ancestral links to the Clare village.
Forty years ago, when he was a student, Mr Pence visited Doonbeg and learned how to pull a pint of stout in Morrissey’s pub which is run by his cousins. He also learned how to cut turf in a local bog.
When he visited Doonbeg again two years ago, Mr Pence was accompanied by his wife, Karen, his elderly mother, Nancy, and his sister, Anne.
His grandfather, Michael Richard Cawley, taught him nursery rhymes, including Humpty Dumpty, in Irish when looking after him as a child.
Mr Cawley’s family hailed from the Sligo-Mayo border which is where Mr Pence brought his entire family to visit several years ago.
The Clare connections for Mr Pence come from his grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Maloney, whose family originally came from Doonbeg.
She met and married Michael Cawley in Chicago in 1931. Morrissey’s Pub owner Hugh McNally, a distant cousin of the US vice-president, said such high-profile visits to the Clare village were always something special.
Mr McNally added that the profile offered to Doonbeg by the Mr Trump and Mr Pence visits had been remarkable for local tourism.
Mr Pence took time to have a family meal at Morrissey’s and also greeted well-wishers who had waited for him behind security barriers on the main street of the village.
West Clare locals see the US visits as critical for the tourism economy and a priceless source of global marketing for the area.
The number of overseas visitors travelling to Doonbeg tripled in the three years between Mr Trump seeking the Republican nomination for the White House and his first year in office.
West Clare also enjoyed a surge in the number of American visitors – among the highest spending segment of the overseas tourist economy.
Tubridy’s pub owner Tommy Tubridy said last year the presidential and vice-presidential connections had been economic god-sends. “It has been absolutely wonderful for the area,” he said.
A number of private houses in the Doonbeg area display US flags throughout the year.
However, Mr Trump and his family have clashed with Irish and Clare planning authorities. Mr Trump wants to see coastal defences strengthened to protect the Doonbeg golf course from sea damage.