Doonbeg is set to host the president of the United States of America Mr Donald J Trump this afternoon where the stage is certainly set for a warm welcome for one of highest profile world figures to visit the village.
Over 2,000 personnel will be deployed at various points around the county, in one of the biggest – and most expensive – security operations ever. While protests will be held at Shannon, Galway and in Dublin, the red carpet is literally being rolled out in the Long Village, where Mr Trump is seen as vital to the local economy and a major employer through his luxury golf resort. John Flanagan who is the Chairperson for Doonbeg Development Association joined Gavin Grace to discuss how Doonbeg has changed since Donald’s investment.
On the other side of the fence, the anti-Trump peace camp is now in-situ at Shannon Airport, to coincide with the visit of Donald Trump to Ireland and Gardaí have liaised with those who have been planning for the event. Officers say they have planned for any issues that may arise, but they expect the demonstrations to be peaceful and organisers have stressed that they want the camp to be ‘family friendly’. But as well as this, Clare woman Siobhán O’Donoghue – from Kilmurry McMahon, founder of Uplift.ie – is bringing the notorious Trump baby blimp to Ireland to mark the visit of the US President.
Last week, as you might remember, we spoke to Mundy Hayes, Chairperson of Kerry Co-Op about a share offer to farmers who are members. Under the deal, an estimated 13,000 shareholders are eligible to cash in their shares. Opposition has arisen from members of a group called the Kerry Co-Op Shareholders Alliance who take issue with the fact that sales are subject to income tax, rather than capital gains tax. Dave Scannell a member of this group joined Gavin to discuss what happened last Friday night, with the aim of convincing Clare farmers not to cash in their shares.
Will Donald Trump wear a green tie for his Irish visit? Now, we all know that the US President Donald Trump has a reputation for being a little unpredictable. So much so, that we don’t really know what to expect from his visit to Doonbeg. That’s prompted Irish bookmakers Paddy Power to offer odds on what he might get up to during his visit. The bookmaker expects his wife Melania to sport a green dress while in Ireland, giving odds as short as 1/3 that she will do so. The odds that the US President will mimic his wife and wear a green tie are longer at 11/10. Joe Lee, Head of Trump Betting with Paddy Power joined Gavin to give the low down on the bets and on Trump Plaza.
To round up the last hour of the show, we heard from the family of late cervical cancer campaigner Laura Brennan who shared their reactions to the new documentary about her life – ‘This is Me’
