Next week the former and potentially future president of the United States Donald Trump will arrive in Clare for his fourth visit since his company bought the luxury Doonbeg Hotel and Golf resort for €15 million almost a decade ago.
Garda sources told The Irish Times Mr Trump would have a significant security detail with him, as all former US presidents do when they travel domestically or internationally. However, senior Garda officers have been liaising with their American counterparts to coordinate the security operation while Mr Trump is on the ground and also to perform screening and security sweeps ahead of his trip.
Those security sweeps have involved significant checks – for explosives, firearms and other items - in and round the environs of his five-star golf resort in Doonbeg, where he was expected to stay and also play golf while in the Republic. The Garda Water Unit has also been involved in searching some bodies of water and the sewage system, checking for weapons and explosives.
Garda sources said while Mr Trump, and any US president or former office holder, would be at risk of attack from a variety of international groups, those concerns were heightened at present due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war it has created.
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While the frontline of the Garda policing operation for the Trump visit involves uniformed members of the force and armed detectives, the Garda’s specialist units are also involved, including the Special Detective Unit and Emergency Response Unit. The Garda Air Support Unit was also expected to monitor Mr Trump’s movements by vehicle while he is in the Republic while checkpoints will also operate on roads leading to Doonbeg.
However, sources said the security operation would be much smaller than that put in place for the recent visit to Ireland of US President Joe Biden.
While Mr Trump is, by any measure, a polarising figure in his home country, he is a friend to west Clare. He is also one of its major employers, with in excess of 300 people working at the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel at high season.
So despite facing multiple legal challenges including a criminal trial over hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels and an civil action in which he stands accused of rape as well as potentially more charges coming down the tracks including an ongoing investigation into his role in the January 6th, 2021, Capitol Hill invasion, he will be warmly welcomed on the Wild Atlantic Way.
The welcome won’t be like the first time he touched down in Clare.
When he first came to the west of Ireland after buying the resort in 2014, the Government pulled out all the stops.
There was a red carpet rolled out on the grey Shannon Airport runway with the then minister for finance Michael Noonan standing at its vibrant edge in the company of a harpist, a singer and a violinist to shake Mr Trump’s hand.
Fast forward to 2019 when, as president, Mr Trump came back.
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Despite his exalted, and at one time unimaginable, position of power, there was considerably less pomp and almost no fawning – a firm handshake from then taoiseach Leo Varadkar was the extent of it. There wasn’t even a fiddle player.
His arrival on Wednesday for a two-day visit is likely to be even more low key although the locals are still pretty pleased it is happening.
“From what I understand it’s a business visit,” says Rita McInerney who owns one of the two shops in the tiny village of Doonbeg. “The Trumps are the owners of the property so we would have expected a visit at some stage.”
She is optimistic his return might help the town. “It could bring its own level of interest and coverage with it but for us it’s kind of part of having the Trump organisation as part of our community. I don’t think people are getting too worked up about it..”
While it is, she says, a “talking point”, one thing the people of west Clare try not to talk about when Trump is in town is the GOP elephant in the room.
“We can leave the politics out of it,” she says. “The reality is that the American people have a vested interest in who their president is and we’re looking at it from the outside, we don’t have to elect the American president. I think in Ireland there are those that support Donald Trump and there’s those that don’t and there’s those who are agnostic and say look it’s up to them. ”
She says the weather will shape much of his visit and a bracing Atlantic front might have a thing or two to say about how long he stays. “I don’t know what the forecast is for next week, I was more concerned about the weekend and how many visitors would be around and how many how ice creams I might need.”
She hasn’t met the most famous of the Trumps but she has met his son Eric “a few times. Eric is great for buying ice creams you know.”
Joe Russell is the general manager of the hotel and will be charged with making sure Mr Trump enjoys his time here.
He is looking forward to the challenge as he has done on each occasion the Trump Circus rolled into town.
“The footprint is smaller this time, I’m told. That said, you still don’t want a situation larger or smaller. So it may not be the All Ireland but it’s still the Championship. You need to keep focused.”
He has multiple meetings with his team and everything is in place with some areas given a fresh lick of paint in advance of the boss’s touchdown.
He recalls when the Trump Organisation took over, just after a huge storm had done massive amounts of damage to the Clare coast including the fabled golf course.
“They walked in two days after that storm. And you had beach debris up on the golf course you had greens are impacted by that storm. And, they stood in front of all the staff and myself and said,’ We will sort out these issues that have just occurred, and we will invest in this property. And we will bring on your golf course in your hotel to new levels. And we’ll open up new sales and marketing opportunities.
“And they have done that. They’ve kept their promises to the people working here and to the people at the local community.”
He dances around the politics of it all. “America is very much clearly defined as to whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat and a few in between. I would say that those people who visit Ireland visit for the love of Ireland, and you know, they’re not they’re not drawn on political affiliations..
The plan is for the Trump entourage to arrive on Wednesday, discuss the business of the hotel and play the golf course before heading off.
“I would say I’m a reasonable golfer. And I play golf with him,” Russell says. “He is fabulous company on the course, he really, really is. I mean, he has stories upon stories ”
Aideen O’Mahoney is the principal of Clohanes National School and her 27 students found themselves in the spotlight in 2019 when they chanced upon the presidential party as it was heading towards the ninth hole.
They were introduced to Mr Trump and serenaded him with My Lovely Rose Of Clare.
The canny principal was able to get such ready access because her family own land adjacent to the course and within the security cordon.
“We don’t have any plans yet,” she told The Irish Times. “We are not sure of his itinerary yet or how long he will be in Doonbeg so we play it by ear and see how it goes.”
She has a very nuanced answer when asked about his popularity.
“He has a business that is providing employment for 200 to 300 people, many of them young. And that is why the people here appreciate what he has done and what is doing for the area.”
