Trump is finally getting the wall he’s always wanted to build — not along the U.S.-Mexico border, but on his golf course in Ireland.
The Trump International Golf Links and Hotel Doonbeg, one of several golf courses owned by President Trump, was given the green light to build two low, concealed sea walls, 2,000 feet long and 840 feet long, on the country’s Western coast to prevent storm waters from eroding three holes of his course.
Clare County Council has today issued a decision to grant permission for the development of coastal erosion management works at, and adjacent to, Carrowmore Dunes, White Strand, Doughmore Bay and Trump International Golf Links and Hotel, Doonbeg, Clare pic.twitter.com/kch6i5GxUR
— Clare County Council (@ClareCoCo) December 21, 2017
Trump International Golf Links applied for the current walls citing sea level rise due to extreme weather, aka climate change. Politico reviewed an application last year that justified the wall because of erosion from changing weather.
Remember though, this is coming from a man and administration that has repeatedly denied global warming as a real problem.
There was a public outcry among environmentalists and wildlife experts, who are seriously concerned that the walls could damage protected wildlife areas. The barriers could also alter tidal movement and cause water to flow into residents properties in the surrounding areas.
Ireland’s Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan tweeted his disappointment, saying the walls will “interfere with the natural circulation of the dune system.”
Dissappointed Clare County Council have approved Trumps sea wall at Doonbeg. It will interfere with the natural circulation of the dune system. Local jobs would be better protected by adjusting the course to the evolving natural world. #ecology https://t.co/gG3EKELUaI pic.twitter.com/mbWO7Jetj8
— Eamon Ryan (@EamonRyan) December 21, 2017
A petition started by the environmentalist group “Save the Waves” received over 100,000 signatures, but it didn’t stop the modified walls from passing through the council.
The golf club said that not building the wall would result in a loss of jobs and perhaps the closure of the resort, with a “permanent and profound negative economic impact upon Doonbeg.”
President Trump’s son, Eric Trump, said earlier this year: “Everyone wants to see the golf course at Doonbeg remain incredibly vibrant, because no one wants to see the sea wash it away – because without a golf course you don’t have a hotel.”
