Town says: Don’t dump on Trump!
Locals back US leader who has hired 300 & ‘saved community’
RESIDENTS of Doonbeg are standing by Donald Trump after his latest series of blunders declaring: “We’re lucky to have him.”
Locals in the tiny West Clare village insist they are less bothered about the US president’s international shenanigans than the fact he employs 300 people locally.
The five-star Trump International hotel and golf resort has breathed new life into the peninsula and is poised for further expansion if planning issues can be resolved.
The American leader landed himself in hot water last week after a summit with Vladimir Putin and later backtracking over comments he made at a press conference with the Russian president.
But Doonbegers are not one bit bothered and say they don’t have to agree with his politics to work with the billionaire tycoon.
Rita Mcinerney, owner of Wild Atlantic Break coffee shop, told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “We have a good relationship with the hotel. They have a shuttle bus that brings guests into the village. They come to the pubs and restaurants. They buy locally, they supply locally.
“Eric Trump was here just a couple of weeks ago. He had a delegation of businesspeople with him. Those people might never have come to Ireland. It’s great exposure and you never know what opportunities might arise.” She added the village has had “a lot of attention, both positive and negative” as Donald Trump owns the hotel, but she admitted: “To be honest, he just happens to own it.
“We don’t endorse his policies a lot of the time, but we don’t have to. What we’ve always looked to do is work with the project and support it and that is still the case.
“People talk about, ‘Oh you’re selling your souls’ or whatever.
“If you can give me another industry that is relatively low impact on the environment, that would sustain the population of West Clare, then let’s have it.
“Rural Ireland has been left behind. We have to live here and survive here. We love this village, we love the beach.
“We’re not going to blindly say yes to everything Trump proposes, but we will listen.”
A row over plans to protect the site from coastal erosion has held up a planned expansion of 50 new cottages, a ballroom, a conference centre and a leisure centre. In 2016, Trump’s son Eric claimed the family business
had invested “north of $50million to $60million” in Doonbeg since 2014 and were willing to spend more.
Rita said: “Some people have been working up there for 18 years. We have a lot of local employment and a lot of new families in the village.
“It’s a prime location. You can’t just say you are going to let property fall into the sea.
“We have somebody that’s willing to spend €10million, so if anyone can come up with a better solution...”
One shop owner who did not want to be named echoed the sentiment, admitting: “It’s nothing to do with us what he does elsewhere.
“Only for that place up there we wouldn’t have hardly any employment here. There are hundreds working up in that resort.”
Another local joked: “Trump has put us on the map – if he could just tone it down a bit now.
“Seriously though, it’s a fantastic facility up there. There’s nobody doesn’t want it here.”
Local publican Tommy Tubridy correctly predicted Trump’s inauguration as US president would be good for the village.
He noted US vice-president Mike Pence’s Irish ancestors also hail from the area, adding: “We’re lucky to have them.”
The landlord of Tubridy’s pub reckons there will always be a warm welcome for The Donald in Doonbeg.
He’s even developed a knack for writing the initials DT in the creamy heads of Guinness at the family-owned hostelry where he’s been pulling pints for 43 years.
When asked for his opinion on the American leader’s summit with Putin, he told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “Nobody here has any interest in that.
“We’ve a great relationship with the Trump family and long may it continue. It must be the only resort in Ireland that runs a shuttle service to the town and back every night.
“When the pubs are closing we just ring them up and the bus comes back down to pick the guests up. There are a lot of weddings up there too, which bring in business.”
Plenty of celebrities have tied the knot at the luxury resort and Tommy has served the likes of Ronnie Wood and Paul Weller.
He revealed: “We’ve had plenty of famous faces in here.
“I’ve never met the president, but I’ve had Eric here to meet the local people, he’s very down to earth. “Fifteen years ago everyone was emigrating. They were talking of closing down the school.
“Now they are back from the US, England and Australia. People are employed there and are settling in the village.
“That’s guaranteeing our football teams and we’ve a new school now in the village with three teachers. So it’s all good.”
15 years ago everyone was going to England & US, now they’re back
TOMMY TUBRIDY
YESTERDAY IN DOONBEG