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Eco-experts employed by the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Ireland in Co Clare flew over 200 soil subsamples to the UK for analysis this year, as part of a survey at the resort of the Vertigo angustior, or narrow-mouthed whorl snail, a tiny creature protected by EU legislation. That is according to a new report lodged with Clare Co Council on behalf of the hotel, which states that new upgrade works for the golf resort will not impact on the snail. The hotel is owned by US president-elect Donald Trump, and the report forms part of TIGL Ireland Enterprises Ltd’s updated planning application, which is now a scaled-down version of what was first proposed earlier this year.
The application, lodged last February, proposed the change of use of Doughmore House at the resort from office/administration use to leisure/recreation and the scheme included the construction of pickleball courts, a basketball court and two soft play areas at Doughmore House. Read more However, in the revised plans now lodged with the council, a planning report states that no works are proposed at Doughmore House, and “this adjustment reduces the project’s potential impact on the surrounding area, including sensitive environmental areas”. In 2014, shortly after purchasing the resort, Donald Trump told reporters at Shannon Airport that he would be a friend to the Vertigo angustior at the site.
Donald Trump told reporters in 2014 that he would be a friend to the Vertigo angustior Clare Co Council stalled the project in April, due to the impact it could have on the snail and other planning issues. Now, in a new report prepared by planning consultant Conor Healy of Cunnane Stratton Reynolds for TIGL Ireland Enterprises, it is stated that the proposed works at O’Dea’s Barn and Healy House at the resort will not affect the species within the Carrowmore Dunes Special Area of Conservation. Survey and monitoring of the snail at Doonbeg was carried out last May.
The 200 subsamples – approximately 20kg in total – were flown to a lab in the UK. Each subsample was dried for several weeks. Once dry, each subsample was teased apart, agitated, and sieved vertically and a total of 133 Vertigo angustior shells were counted from the 50 sampling locations, an overall increase from the previous year.
The report by Dr Chris Gleed-Owen says that monitoring at Doonbeg in 2024 found that the Vertigo angustior is in terminal decline in the maritime grassland of the dunes – the Special Area of Conservation areas.. The report states that “conversely, Vertigo angustior now appears to be more common within the golf course per se”.
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