Donald Trump objected to the proposed wind farm near his golf resort in Doonbeg
Posted by Jim on April 20, 2018
Varadkar’s Trump email led to wind farm report
Fáilte Ireland ordered fresh review of proposal
Peter O’Dwyer, Seán McCárthaigh
April 20 2018, 12:01am, The Times
Donald Trump objected to the proposed wind farm near his golf resort in Doonbeg
Fáilte Ireland ordered a report into a proposed wind farm in Co Clare the day after Leo Varadkar had relayed Donald Trump’s concerns about the development to the tourism board.
Mr Varadkar, who was minister for tourism, contacted Fáilte Ireland in 2014 after he received a call from Mr Trump, who owns a golf resort nearby in Doonbeg.
The taoiseach was strongly criticised after he revealed details of his contact with Mr Trump during a speech in Washington last month during his St Patrick’s Day visit.
Planning permission for the wind farm, proposed by Clare Coastal Wind Power, was ultimately refused by Clare county council and An Bord Pleanála upon appeal. Fáilte Ireland made one of 40 submissions to the council and argued that the proliferation of wind farms in west Clare would “detract” from tourism in the area.
Documents released under freedom of information show that Paddy Mathews, a senior executive at Fáilte Ireland, commissioned the report a day after Mr Varadkar’s intervention on February 24. AOS Planning, a consultancy firm, was charged with compiling the report to determine the likely impact on the value of local tourism amenities, including Doonbeg Lodge and Golf Course, owned by Mr Trump.
Records show that on February 25 a personal assistant of Shaun Quinn, Fáilte Ireland chief executive at the time, had asked Mr Mathews for an update on Mr Varadkar’s email. “Shaun [Quinn] asked me to contact you to see how you are getting on with the response he is waiting to go back to the minister with,” the assistant wrote.
Later that day Mr Mathews replied and said that the report was being ordered in line with normal policies and procedures. A spokesman for the agency yesterday repeated that the report was in line with standard practice.
The report was one of a number of similar assessments commissioned by Fáilte Ireland in relation to the proposed wind farm over a period of almost three years. Details of the assessment sought from AOS were included in emails between Mr Mathews and Mr Quinn.
Despite the records appearing to show that a response to Mr Varardkar was being drafted by Fáilte Ireland, a spokesman for the Department of Tourism said Mr Varadkar did not receive any reply. A spokesman for the taoiseach said it was a matter for the department.
Fáilte Ireland said it had no records from Mr Quinn in relation to the matter as it had deleted his emails after his departure from the tourism body in December 2016 as it was its policy to do so with all former employees within six months of them leaving.
The documents released to The Times show that the assessment commissioned the day after Mr Varadkar’s email concluded that the proposed wind farm would have a “slight to moderate” effect on Mr Trump’s Doonbeg resort. The conclusion was not included in Fáilte Ireland’s formal submission to Clare county council in September 2014. Instead it concluded that the impact on Doonbeg village was considered “moderate”. The report by AOS, commissioned in February, also highlighted the visual impact of the wind farm on the general Doonbeg area and views from the N67, which forms part of the Wild Atlantic Way. These were repeated in Fáilte Ireland’s submission to the local authority.
Fáilte Ireland last night denied that it had left the conclusion of the earlier report out of its final submission after the intervention by Mr Varadkar. “Both these [documents] were carried out by independent consultants and were not influenced by any circumstances beyond the relevant tourism impact considerations,” a Fáilte Ireland spokesman said.
He claimed it was “misleading” to equate the two documents but said they both concluded that the salient matter was “the excessive concentration of development of wind farms in this one part of the country”.
The dates of the documents showed that Fáilte Ireland had been following plans for a wind farm near Doonbeg since 2012, he said.
The taoiseach’s spokesman said any changes between the consultant’s report and the submission to the county council was “entirely a decision” for Fáilte Ireland. “All the taoiseach did was pass on an email,” he said.
Following his revelation last month, the taoiseach insisted that his actions were “entirely above board”.
TURBINE TURMOIL
January 2012 Fáilte Ireland makes submission about 45-turbine wind farm outside Doonbeg
July 2013 An Bord Pleanála refuses planning permission
February 3, 2014 Fresh application submitted for 9-turbine wind farm outside Doonbeg near original site
February 21 Donald Trump calls Leo Varadkar, then the tourism minister, about effect on his golf course
February 24 Mr Varadkar conveys Mr Trump’s concerns to Shaun Quinn, Fáilte Ireland chief executive, via email
February 25 Fáilte Ireland commissions report from AOS, a planning consultancy, on the wind farm, which finds its impact on Doonbeg golf course would be “moderate-slight”
September 10 Fáilte Ireland makes submission to An Bord Pleanála on wind farm without reference to Mr Trump’s resort and the consultancy’s finding
October Planning permission refused by Clare county council
July 2015 An Bord Pleanála rejects the appeal by Clare Coastal Wind Power against the council’s decision
March 15, 2017 Mr Varadkar reveals during visit to Washington he made enquiries about wind farm after being contacted by Mr Trump