'This is my greatest day' says Longford architect as Trump loses bid to build Doonbeg wall

An appeal to An Bord Pleanála against the proposed wall, led by Mr Madden and Peter Sweetman, found that the proposed wall would have an “adverse effects on the physical structure, functionality, and sediment supply of dune habitat within the Carrowmore Dunes Special Area of Conservation”.

TIGL Ireland Enterprises, the company through which Trump owns Doonbeg, was given permission to build the rock wall in late 2017 by Clare County Council in order to prevent part of the course being eroded by the sea.

The plan would have involved the excavation of existing sand, the use of sheet piling backstops with soil nailing, geotextile underlay, armourstone protection to the sheet piles with sand and cobbles currently on the beach being used to form a dune profile over several hundred metres along the coast. It would, according to some reports, have weighed about 38,000 tonnes and cost about €7 million.

An Bord Pleanála has been considering the matter for more than a year, which has angered local residents who fear that Trump might sell the resort if he does not get to build the protective wall.

When contacted by the Longford Leader, Mr Madden said: “St Patrick on March 17 drove the snakes out of Ireland, and Liam Madden wanted to emulate that by driving Donald Trump out of Ireland.”