Trump scraps sea wall plan for his golf course in Ireland

Donald Trump has rescinded his plans for the wall — the one in Ireland, anyway.

The president-elect made waves this past year when the Trump International Golf Course along Doughmore Beach in Doonbeg, Ireland, pushed a proposal to erect a 200,000-ton, 1.7-mile-long seawall near the County Clare golf course, a property he purchased in 2014 for around €8.7 million ($9,231,657). Trump argued then that the wall would protect his land from the damaging effects of climate change. The justification surprised many Americans since he had famously (and repeatedly) referred to global warming as a “hoax” and “bull***t.” In keeping with those comments, on Wednesday, he tapped climate-change denier Scott Pruitt to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

But under growing international pressure from environmental organizations, which cited threats to the natural coastal dunes, along with the local whorl snail species, the Trump International Golf Links rescinded its proposal this week.

The Clare County Council, which oversees building and construction applications for the region, confirmed to Yahoo News that the application for the sea wall “was withdrawn by the applicant.”

While some locals supported Trump’s plans to build the seawall, other people and organizations, especially environmental groups, vehemently opposed the efforts, arguing the wall would disrupt the natural landscape and the beloved surf break in the region. The construction would have “restricted public access, negatively impacted a widely popular surfing wave, and carried grave consequences for the pristine dune system it would transect,” according to Nick Mucha, director of Save the Waves Coalition, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the coastal environment.

Save the Waves was the most vocal opponent to the seawall construction, collecting more than 100,000 signatures around the world to protest it in a campaign called #NatureTrumpsWalls. The retraction of the seawall proposal is a “rare triumph for a small organization over a project of this scale,” Mucha told Yahoo News.

Still, the fight for protecting the resort from erosion damage doesn’t seem to be over yet. A spokesperson for Trump Organization told Yahoo News that consultants for the resort will submit another application for an alternate tactic to the wall this month.

“We do not have time to spare as large storm events have proven to be costly, resulting in coastal erosion in the past,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We hope to get approval on the new proposal as soon as possible in full preparation for the impending storms.”

The alternative proposal for coastal protection seems to be a bit of a compromise with environmental groups, consisting of a series of metal sheet piling installations with a rock armor fronting that will be burrowed below the sand. The golf course itself would also undergo changes, in which two holes will be relocated inland. In other words, the wall will be replaced by smaller barriers that pose less of a threat to the natural landscape.

Despite the controversy it stirred, many locals voiced disappointment over the rescinded proposal and disdain for opponents of the construction. On Wednesday, Doonbeg farmer John Flanagan told the Irish Times, “It is the local people here who are faced with the threat of coastal erosion and it is local people who should be listened to – not people … who are not in danger of being washed out.”

He added: “These people are saying ‘save Doughmore’ and ‘protect Doughmore’ – they don’t even know where Doughmore is on the map.”

Mucha acknowledged the support Trump has received from many Doonbeg locals but said the alternative options, including the new proposal of altering the course’s layout, could satisfy the opposing camps. Still, Mucha said Save the Waves will remain vigilant of subsequent plans to protect the golf course.

“We will remain highly engaged in evaluating the merits and negative impacts of the new proposal and will activate to minimize the impacts of any proposal at Doughmore Beach,” he said.