DUBLIN // Long before Donald Trump promised to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, he planned to build one in the village of Doonbeg on the western coast of Ireland, in a bid to keep out the sea.
Perched on the Atlantic Ocean in county Clare, Doonbeg is famous for the gentle, grass-covered dunes that line its curving beaches. The village is a magnet for tourists — a factor that undoubtedly inspired Mr Trump to purchase a 12-year-old golf resort in 2014.
Paying roughly US$9.2 million (Dh33.8m) for The Lodge at Doonbeg, the billionaire property developer renamed the resort Trump International Golf Links & Hotel. It swiftly became one of the crown jewels of his empire.
Even in the midst of Mr Trump’s presidential campaign this May, his son Eric came to Doonbeg to inaugurate a redesigned golf course. His father knew every inch of the course, Eric Trump said.
“I was on the phone to him earlier for 20 minutes, and he was asking: ‘How is [hole] four looking? How is six? How is 18?’ He was very envious of me being here.”
Mr Trump repeatedly denied the existence of climate change and its predicted consequence, a rise in sea levels, during his campaign. However, his company has explicitly cited concerns about such a rise in its application to build a wall in Doonbeg to protect the golf course from being swamped.
The application also cited the threat from flash storms, after winter storms in late 2014 and early 2015 shut the course temporarily.
But the resort’s plans to erect a $10.6m, 2.8-kilometre wall along its coastal boundary has run into trouble. Built of mortared rocks, the wall is to be 6.5 metres high and wide enough for a walkway on top and will flatten the dunes just behind the beach.
Critics say the wall is likely to be an eyesore and may wreck the region’s ecology. But with no wall, Mr Trump’s representatives have warned he will consider shutting down the resort, jeopardising the jobs of nearly 300 residents.
The Clare county council is reviewing the wall application, and has asked for further information to be submitted by December 31.
The resort had initially tried to build the wall without authorisation, said Tony Lowes, director of the non-profit Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE).
“In 2014, lorries full of limestone just began showing up in the resort’s car park. Only then was it made clear to the Trumps that they had to get permission to build this wall,” he said.
Mr Lowes and FIE have been at the forefront of protests against Mr Trump’s wall, which has also drawn opposition from groups such as the Irish Surfing Association.
A more modest wall design would be fine, Mr Lowes said. “But a construction like the one that has been planned would be so tall that it would interfere with the movement of the sand and be visually intrusive.”
Mr Lowes is also concerned that the dunes along the coast on Mr Trump’s property would be levelled, destroying the habitat of a protected species of snail called the Vertigo angustior. “When Mr Trump purchased the property, he was given documents in which the National Parks and Wildlife Service made it very clear that the snail must be protected and that the dunes couldn’t be interfered with.”
But Mr Lowes admitted that his view was not shared by “99.9 per cent of the community in Doonbeg”.
The golf resort is the primary employer in the area, and it supports a host of local businesses as well.
“The government doesn’t create jobs here anymore,” said John O’Dea, who runs a construction company and chairs Doonbeg Community Development, a body of businesses in the village. “And if the sea breaches the dunes, it’ll flood an awful lot of land, which will affect a lot of small farmers in the area.”
Mr O’Dea recalled the storms two years ago, which washed away a line of dunes. “Between 25 and 40 metres of dunes disappeared in one night,” he said. “They talk about this snail now, but I don’t remember anyone worrying too much about snails back then.”
Mr Trump’s election to the US presidency will “bring more and more business to the area, and that’s more than welcome”, Mr O’Dea said. “Lots of villages on the west coast here would give anything to get that kind of business.”
Once the council makes its decision, either party can appeal to the planning appeals board, which will rule based on a report by one of its inspectors.
But Mr Lowes is confident the council will rule in the favour of the environment, and at least force Mr Trump to reduce the size of his wall.
“The dunes are so magnificent. You can go into them and get utterly lost. It’s a cup of paradise,” he said. “It really is worth trying to keep this alive.”
ssubramanian@thenational.ae
Race 3
Produced: Salman Khan Films and Tips Films
Director: Remo D’Souza
Cast: Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Bobby Deol, Daisy Shah, Saqib Salem
Rating: 2.5 stars
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
'Manmarziyaan' (Colour Yellow Productions, Phantom Films)
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal
Rating: 3.5/5
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Result
2.15pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,950m; Winner: Majestic Thunder, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).
2.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m; Winner: Tailor’s Row, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.
3.15pm: Handicap Dh85,000 1,600m; Winner: Native Appeal, Adam McLean, Doug Watson.
3.45pm: Handicap Dh115,000 1,950m; Winner: Conclusion, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
4.15pm: Handicap Dh100,000 1,400m; Winner: Pilgrim’s Treasure, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
4.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,400m; Winner: Sanad Libya, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
5.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,000m; Winner: Midlander, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
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THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
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if you go
The flights
Direct flights from the UAE to the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, are available with Air Arabia, (www.airarabia.com) Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com) or Etihad (www.etihad.com) from Dh1,200 return including taxes. The trek described here started from Jomson, but there are many other start and end point variations depending on how you tailor your trek. To get to Jomson from Kathmandu you must first fly to the lake-side resort town of Pokhara with either Buddha Air (www.buddhaair.com) or Yeti Airlines (www.yetiairlines.com). Both charge around US$240 (Dh880) return. From Pokhara there are early morning flights to Jomson with Yeti Airlines or Simrik Airlines (www.simrikairlines.com) for around US$220 (Dh800) return.
The trek
Restricted area permits (US$500 per person) are required for trekking in the Upper Mustang area. The challenging Meso Kanto pass between Tilcho Lake and Jomson should not be attempted by those without a lot of mountain experience and a good support team. An excellent trekking company with good knowledge of Upper Mustang, the Annaurpuna Circuit and Tilcho Lake area and who can help organise a version of the trek described here is the Nepal-UK run Snow Cat Travel (www.snowcattravel.com). Prices vary widely depending on accommodation types and the level of assistance required.
The Lowdown
Kesari
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Anubhav Singh
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
UAE%20SQUAD
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MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Fixture: Liechtenstein v Italy, Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match is shown on BeIN Sports
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).